Don't Answer the Door!
by LitLover 101
Summary: They were warned. They didn't listen. Now time has run out and they're all on the run. From who? They don't know. All they know is that it started the minute the clock struck twelve on Halloween night. Ensemble cast. Includes TVD/TO characters. All human. AU/AH Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

They were warned. They didn't listen. Now time has run out and they're all on the run. From who? They don't know. All they know is that it started the minute the clock struck twelve on Halloween night. Ensemble cast.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries TV show. That honor goes to Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.**

 **Hello, my lovely readers. So this is something new for me where I'm trying to write a horror story and I decided to start posting it in honor of Halloween. This fic includes TVD/TO cast. I hope you enjoy it. On with the show…**

Chapter 1: It's a Joke

All Hallow's Eve:

It was just a stupid joke. Someone had become a little too into the Halloween sprit. That was it. It was harmless. No one needed to be afraid because it was a prank. All the girls had been laughing about it and most of the guys. Except for Elijah who tended to take things a little more seriously and did not find it amusing when Kol had been found hanging upside down from a tree in their backyard with fake blood pouring from his neck. No, not everyone thought it was a joke…

Caroline, Elena and Bonnie were sitting in Elena's old room while her brother, Jeremy, came in with a bowl of popcorn which he would defend from his sister and her friends with his very life. Or so he thought. When Caroline reached for the bowl and Bonnie leapt on his back, with her hands over his eyes, he let go quickly. "Hey, not on the bed. I just cleaned the sheets this morning."

"'Cause you were up all night with Damon," Caroline sang with a laugh.

"Whatever," Elena replied with a huge smile as she tossed some popcorn at her friend. "I don't tease you about Kl-" she started to say when Caroline slapped her hand over her friend's mouth.

"Not tonight. We're not going to talk about boys tonight," Caroline yelled.

"Really?" Bonnie's eyebrows rose. "You're the one who brought them up in the first place."

Caroline scoffed. "At least I'm not on top of one right now," she nodded at Bonnie who was still wrapped around Jeremy's back.

"Whatever," Bonnie snapped as she slid down and came to sit beside Elena, braiding her hair as her friend stared at her computer. "Are you reading that again?"

"Yes," Elena replied.

"Why?" Caroline groaned, flopping onto her belly and checking the computer screen. "Do you think that it's really going to happen? Are you scared, E-len-a?" she teased and Elena rolled her eyes at Caroline's imitation of Damon.

"No. Not for myself," Elena replied, staring at the screen whose light cast shadows over her face. "I just… I don't know. It's kind of creepy. Don't you think?"

"You mean that some dude, and you know it's a dude, 'cause that's the way it is in all the horror movies -" Bonnie began when Jeremy interrupted her.

"No. In Scream 4 it was a girl who was killing people," the Gilbert brother pointed out.

"Yeah, Bonnie, don't be sexist," Caroline added with a laugh.

"Are you kidding me?" Bonnie shook her head at Caroline who grinned back.

"It could be anybody," Elena whispered. She wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or her friends. All she knew was that, unlike them, she did not find it funny that someone was threatening to go on a killing spree starting at midnight on Halloween until 12:00 a. m. the day after. What she could not believe was that the local authorities acted like it was no big deal. That it was okay to go out to a party. Just be careful, like always.

Elena remembered when she had walked down the hallway of Whitmore and had read a sign that said that "Halloween is going to be my night!" Everyone who read it had laughed it off like it was just a dumb joke. The warning had been posted on October 1st and no one had acted like they found it frightening. Elena hadn't been all that worried either until the warnings continued to show up and then there was something about Mystic Falls being a target zone. That had put her on edge.

The very next day Elena had packed a bag and said she going home. Bonnie and Caroline insisted they had exams and she could stay until the day before Halloween and then they would come back with her, for moral support. What Elena had noticed when she came home was that she was not the only one who had run back.

Rebekah Mikaelson, who had been studying French in New Orleans with her best friend, Hayley Marshall, had come running home. Both girls had family in Mystic Falls. Rebekah lived across town with her three brothers and Hayley lived with the grandmother and her two grandsons, who had been friends of Hayley's family. They had moved to town during their senior year. Liv Parker, whose family had moved in two years earlier, arrived two hours ago. Elena knew because she saw her from her bedroom window. The only female to not arrive home was Vikki Donavon who had disappeared three years ago, without a trace.

Even though Elena had not spoken to Rebekah, Hayley or Liv she thought they had probably come for the same reason she had; they were afraid that the warnings were true and that this Halloween would be a bloodbath. Looking out her window, which had the curtains pulled open, she caught sight of Liv arguing with her older brother, Kai Parker, who was smirking with his arms crossed. He rolled his eyes at something she said before getting into a car and waving good-bye. Elena felt a lump in her throat.

"T minus two hours," Caroline said suddenly causing Elena to jump.

"That's not funny!" Elena shouted. Grabbing a pillow, she began to beat her blonde friend until Caroline relented.

"Okay. Okay. You don't have to get violent," Caroline muttered before she grinned. "Maybe it's you," she accused with a giggle.

"Me what?" Elena asked, looking up from the website with its blood red background and the ticking clock.

"Maybe you're the one who's gone bonkers. You've been studying too much in that lab and now your brains gone all twisty. You want some bodies to experiment on and you don't care how you get them," Caroline continued with a slow smile.

"Stop being a drama queen," Bonnie snapped at Caroline who rolled her eyes.

"Party pooper," Caroline snorted as she looked back at Bonnie and the two tried to glare each other to death. "So, I don't know about the two of you, but I'm going to The Falls tonight to part-y," she hummed to Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" as she got up to dance around the room with her arms waving above her head. "'Cause I'm going to live forever," she told her friends with a laugh.

"Sure. Or die screaming," Bonnie replied lightly and Caroline grabbed a pillow to beat Bonnie with.

"Hey. He. Or she. Is not targeting you!" Jeremy reminded Caroline who pouted at him.

"Why not? I'm hot and I would look good running around in my underwear away from a knife wielding psycho," Caroline cried. "Let me show you," she started to take off her shirt when Bonnie held up pillow in front of her.

"We've all seen that many times in the locker room way back in high school. And, I, for one, can do without seeing your boobs," Bonnie protested as Caroline tried to yank the pillow away.

"But I need to know what they look like when I'm running away. And you know that a lot of guys go to those films so I need Jeremy to tell me what he thinks," Caroline informed Bonnie whose face contorted when Jeremy started to grin. Then he looked at his feet.

After a moment, Jeremy looked up. "Is that what you think my last request would be? To see your boobs?" he asked Caroline seriously.

"Well, yeah. Isn't that what all teenage boys want? To see a bunch of boobs?" Caroline reasoned with her hands on her hips.

"They're called breasts," Bonnie reminded Caroline who rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, Erin Brokovich," Caroline sighed. "Anyway, so you coming or not?" she snapped at her friends.

"Pass," Elena replied, still staring at her computer. There were only two hours till the killing began. Correction: one hour, fifty-nine minutes and twenty seconds.

"Come on, Elena. You have to come! I heard Stefan say that he's going to talk Damon into going. Do you really want your honey partying with the likes of Rebekah Mikaelson on the prowl?" Caroline asked Elena who looked up with a frown.

"Damon's going?" Elena echoed. She was almost certain that he had agreed that he would stay at home to put her mind at ease.

"Yeah. He is," Caroline said with her eyes narrowed. "And we know that if it's not Rebekah, then it will be her little friend, Hayley. That girl can't say no."

"She said no to Klaus," Bonnie pointed out.

"Or so he says," Caroline snarled before she forced a smile. "Whatever. I'm over it. He can do his best Ross Gellar impression 'We were on a break!"' she shouted and the other three laughed.

"You know if you want to go, I'll be fine," Jeremy told his sister who looked up at him with a frown.

"Elena, you have to go with us. Or I might be the one with blood on her hands," Caroline begged with wide eyes.

"Fine," Elena sighed. Turning off her computer and getting up from the bed, she came to stand in front of Jeremy. "Lock the doors and the windows. Do not answer the door for anyone other than me, Aunt Jenna or Alaric. Or Damon," she added before turning to grab a light jacket. "We'll be home no later than one. 'Kay?"

"Sure. You know, I'm not a baby anymore, and I can take care of myself," Jeremy told Elena who nodded.

"Right. Well. Have fun and don't puke on the rug eating all the Halloween candy I bought for the trick-or-treaters," Elena said with a smile. She led her friends out into the night air. It felt good with a light breeze and she had to admit that she was feeling better. Maybe everyone was right. It was just a prank. Probably a thirteen year old with too much time on their hands and unrestricted computer privileges. Whatever.

Walking over to her car, Elena looked up at the house next to hers and she caught sight of Liv. The blonde was standing at the window, watching the street with a blank expression on her face. Blinking, Elena tried to identify the object in the girl's hand. It flashed silver in the moonlight and Elena let out an involuntary gasp. Liv had a knife.

Opening her mouth, Elena was about to say something when Liv looked down at her. The other girl's face contained nothing but rage as she lifted the silver object… to her ear. Allowing a slow breath to leak out of her lungs, Elena realized that Liv was holding a cell phone. Now she was yanking the drapes shut. "I should stay at home," she breathed and Caroline shook her head.

"No. You're coming with me. You are my moral support who will prevent me from drinking and sexing with one Klaus Mikaelson. Friends don't let friends drink and screw their exes in the wooded areas." Caroline moved around Elena's car and climbed in the backseat as Bonnie got in the front, giving Elena a long look with a slow smile.

Looking at her own house, Elena forced herself to sit down in her car. Flipping on the radio, she was trying to find a station that would calm her frayed nerves when a news alert came on. "Mystic Falls police are again warning citizens to take precautions in their holiday plans. And, remember, to have fun," the host cried.

"Enough of that," Caroline slid forward and flipped that station. "Ha. Found it," she cried before she began to sing along. "Boys only want love if it's torture!"

"Don't say I didn't warn ya," Bonnie and Elena joined in and Elena smiled as she drove along the street. She noted that the lights were on in the Mikaelsons' home and in the Kenners' but she wondered if the teens were home. Not on a weekend. Probably not.

When they arrived, Elena parked her car along the side of the road with all the other cars. There were a lot of people here and she wondered if none of them had heeded the warning. 'Apparently not many,' she thought absently as she walked over to a line to get a drink. There had to be at least twenty high school and college aged people at the party of both sexes. She wondered if the killer was here.

"Elena," someone called and Elena's lips turned upward as the crowd parted and Damon came toward her.

"Hey you," Elena cried as Damon came to pull her off her feet into a long embrace. When he set her back down, she poked him in the chest. "You promised me that you wouldn't go out tonight," she told him, poking him with each word.

Damon took her finger and placed it to his lips. "Yes. Yes, I did. But you underestimated Stefan's desire to drink his own weight in beer and I couldn't let him do that. Dad would kill me."

"Always with the excuses for your bad behavior, Damon," Caroline said from behind Elena.

"Ah, Blondie. I didn't see you there," Damon replied, looping his arm around Elena's waist. She really hoped they didn't get into it right then and there. She wanted to relax and have a good time and to call Jeremy around midnight to make sure that he had not bern axe murdered in his bed.

"It's always so great to see you," Caroline uttered, the sarcasm dripping from her tongue as she elbowed her way past Damon with Bonnie following her, trying in vain to cover her smile with a cough.

"Ignore her," Elena ordered Damon. Now that he was here with her, she felt a third of the tension leave her body. But the other two-thirds were resting inside the space between her shoulder blades and in her feet which wanted to run home.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, trying to make idle conversation before sneaking off to call her brother.

Damon looked around with a mild frown, his lips turned down farther when he caught sight of Stefan. "With the succubus," he told his girlfriend as he brought his cup of beer to his lips.

Elena caught sight of Stefan at the same time as Damon had, her own mouth turning downward in the same expression as her boyfriend's. Stefan was standing near a tree, holding a cup and taking a generous sip before he handed it off to a grinning Rebekah Mikaelson who took a sip. She handed it back to Stefan. "How long have they been doing that?" she asked with a look of disgust.

Damon rolled his eyes before he answered. "We got here about an hour ago, and ever since he and that have been inseparable. Along with their love child," he pointed at the cup the two were exchanging.

"When in Rome," Elena said with laugh as she grabbed Damon's cup. He laughed as she took a long gulp and then made a face.

"Are you ever going to not make that face every time you drink?" he asked, tucking a stray lock behind her ear.

"Nope," she replied, mimicking his popping the p as she eased up on tip toe to kiss him gently.

Taking the cup away from Elena, Damon set it down beside his boot before he pressed his lips to her. They warmed up to the PDA they were displaying as Damon's hands strayed downward and Elena yelped when he grabbed her rear. "Damon," she moaned. "Not out here."

"We could find a nice spot in the woods," Damon sighed into her ear, pressing his lips to the curve of flesh beneath his lips. "Come on, Elena," he murmured, taking her by the hand.

Elena felt her cheeks burning as she allowed Damon to pull her toward the woods. "E-len-a!" Caroline shouted and Elena noticed that Caroline was glaring at them. "Stop. Right. Now!" the blonde called as she hurried over to her. "Remember what we said?" she reminded her friend.

"Friends don't let friends get drunk and have sex in the woods," Elena repeated with a laugh.

"Wait. No. That's not fair. Where was I when this was decided?" Damon looked from brunette to blonde as the two stared at him. "You've got to be kidding me," he moaned, holding his head in his hands.

Caroline opened her mouth to retort with one finger pointed at him in accusation when people began to yell. "Five. Four."

"What is that?" Damon asked when Bonnie appeared, looking down at her watch.

"Three. Two," the crowd cheered.

"What the hell?" Caroline's eyes moved around her.

"Midnight," Bonnie gasped as the three friends stared at each other.

"Oh," Caroline whispered. For a moment there was silence and then there were yells of glee. Halloween had officially begun and people were screaming and trying to scare each other. Elena noticed party goers donning those masks from the _Scream_ series.

"Well, it looks like it was a prank after all," Caroline said warmly with a huge smile when there was a sudden howl from the woods.

"Jack-son," was heard. Then at a higher pitch. It was definitely a wailing. "Jack-SON! JACK-SON!" the voice screamed into the night air.

Elena was running toward the voice. Her feet were pounding the leaves into the dirt beneath her. Then she was there. And her heart began to pound. Hayley was on her knees with blood smeared across one cheek. She held up blood covered hands as she screamed again. Suddenly, Jackson Kenner emerged from the woods, his face contorted in horror when he saw the body at Hayley's side.

"Oliver!" Jackson yelled. "No, Ollie. Please, someone help us!" he yelled, his face turning white then red. "Please!" he screamed.

"What's that?" Caroline asked, her finger shaking as she pointed at a red piece of meat beside the body.

"I looks like a…" Damon gulped.

"A heart," Elena ended since Damon seemed to be at a loss for words for once. 'It wasn't a joke,' she thought numbly and then she was pulling out her phone and hitting the digits as her eyes clouded with tears. "Come on. Jeremy, pick up the damned phone!" she said, gritting her teeth as the dial tone rang for a sixth time. "Where are you, Jeremy?"

 **Happy Halloween!**

 **Tell me what you think, who you think the killer/s is/are and who will die next?**

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my lovely readers. It's time for the next installment. I hope you enjoy it. On with the show…**

Chapter 2: Knock, Knock

All Hallow's Eve: Two minutes before midnight

Jeremy Gilbert had been bored out his mind. For some reason Elena's paranoia had made its way into his head. Ever since she had left, he had been working on ways to keep himself occupied. Watching horror movies had become boring since he'd seen them all, about ten times. Playing video games wasn't as fun by himself and no one was at home that he knew of. Kol was at the party with his brothers and Matt was working. Tyler, who knew what Ty was up to. Probably out with a girl.

This left Jeremy staring out the window, waiting for something to happen. So far. Nothing. But it wasn't midnight yet. No, it was like two minutes till. Maybe being chased around the house by a deranged person would be fun. Grinning, Jeremy propped his head up before looking at the kitchen. He wondered if there was anything to eat in there. Getting to his feet. He walked inside and found nothing but a Red Bull.

Hell, if he was supposed to be wake and aware he might as well, Jeremy thought, as he opened the can and took a swig. Walking by the phone, he thought that maybe he should call for a pizza when the doorbell rang. Checking the time, he noted that it was exactly midnight. "Happy Halloween," he said to himself.

Walking to the front door, he peeked through the window and saw a slight person with a hood over their head. Hesitating, he noticed them turn and look right at him before pushing the hood back and waving. Sighing with relief, Jeremy went over and answered the door. "Hey, I thought you wouldn't be home for another hour."

"Really? And leave you all alone with a crazy person on the loose?" Elena asked with a shake of her long curls. "No way. What kind of sister would that make me?" she laughed and Jeremy laughed with her. "I brought a pizza."

Looking down, Jeremy noted that she had brought a box and it smelled good. He had only had a bologna sandwich and a bag of chips for dinner.

Following Elena to the kitchen, Jeremy watched her pull off her jacket. When she turned around he got the full effect of her look and choked on the slice of pizza he had just begun to stuff in his mouth. He couldn't remember what Elena had been wearing when she left but he was sure she hadn't been wearing a tank cut all the way down so that the clasp of her bra was showing. She had always been fairly modest in her wardrobe choices.

"Ummm…" Jeremy tried to think of something to say when she caught him staring at her boobs.

"It's okay, Jeremy. You're human. I promise I won't tell anyone that you're a little pervy," she winked before strutting over to the fridge and bent over, shaking her hips slightly and Jeremy had to turn away. He wondered if Elena was high. Something was off and he wasn't sure about what it was but it was freaking him out.

"Mind if I?" Elena asked, nodding at the energy drink. Jeremy looked down at it wordlessly when Elena walked over to him and took it from his hand. She placed it to her lips and gulped the liquid down, never moving her eyes away from his. Yes, Elena was high. That was the only explanation for her being really freaky.

The phone rang and Jeremy looked at it. But so did Elena and something made him want to run for the phone. It could be instinct. He wasn't sure. But he just wanted to be talk to someone, anyone other than his sister right then. "Thanks for the drink," Elena said as she reached into her back pocket. Pulling out a cell phone that was not her own (Jeremy would know Elena's cell anywhere) she smiled as she spoke, "Hey. Good. I'm glad to hear that. Okay. I'll be there. You know I don't leave my friends in the lurch," she continued, eyeing Jeremy with a smile as her hand moved along the counter.

His eyes ticked over and Jeremy noticed that Elena's fingers were walking over to the butcher block when she suddenly yanked a knife out. His mouth dropped open when she began to wave it back in forth in an almost hypnotic motion. "You know," she said as she began to inch toward him still waving the weapon. "I hate the way that they slice these pizzas? What ever happened to delicate slices? Something a girl can really sink her teeth into?" she inquired lightly as she cut a slice into three and took one. Placing it to her mouth, she moaned. "That's better. A girl has to watch her figure. Mind if I borrow this? I have to go scare my boyfriend."

Elena laughed as if this were a joke and Jeremy did not argue with her as she shouldered her jacket back on and then grabbed her knife and pizza slice. "See you later, lil' brother," she called over her shoulder with a wave.

The minute that Elena was gone, Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. At some point the caller had hung up but now the phone began to ring, again, causing Jeremy to jump. Grabbing the cordless, he ran for the door, locking it before he answered. "Hello?" he called, hoping that he didn't sound as scared as he felt and not caring if he did.

"Jeremy!" Elena's voice yelled into the phone and Jeremy sucked in a deep breath. Was this some kind of prank, because it wasn't funny?

"Yeah," Jeremy moaned.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked, her words a jumble. He could barely hear her because there were people yelling in the background.

"'Lena. I can't hear you that well," Jeremy replied. He could ask her to just turn around and come home, but he didn't want to see her again that night.

"I know. Oliver Kenner was… He's dead, Jer. That's why I'm calling. To make sure that you're okay," Elena said in a rush.

"Killed where?" Jeremy replied, having no idea what else to say.

"At the party," Elena said, like that made sense.

"You're at the party?" Jeremy replied slowly.

"Yes. I'm with Damon, Caroline and Bonnie. Well, I was with Damon, but Stefan is missing and he went to look for him," Elena's voice became muffled. "Caroline, have you seen Damon?"

"No. And Elijah said that Klaus is missing, too. Oh, God! What if? I didn't even tell him I'm still mad at him. And that I will kill him myself if -" Caroline's voice was cut off by Elena returning to the phone.

"Jeremy, are you still there?" Elena asked. Her voice was rising again over the sound of sirens in the distance.

"I'm fine. I think," Jeremy hesitated, then added "But you were just here. You should know that," he told his sister.

"Jeremy. What are you talking about? I've been at the party for over an hour!" Elena replied as if Jeremy were an idiot.

Rubbing his eyes, Jeremy sat down on the couch and stared into space. "Yeah. Sure, Elena. Okay. I get it. You really wanted me to believe in this whole 'Halloween Serial Killer' thing so badly that you pretended to go out and then came back to scare me," he forced a laugh. Now that he said it aloud, he realized that he sounded like a crazy person. Hearing a ringing in his ear, he looked at the phone. "Hold on. I think that someone else is on the phone." He hit the hold button before answering. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jeremy, this is Esther Mikaelson," a woman's voice called into the phone. "I've been trying to get in touch with my son, Kol. His phone has been going straight to voicemail and I thought you might have heard from someone at the party he went to."

"Ummm…" Jeremy tried to think of what to say to her. Telling her that her son might be in mortal danger did not seem like the thing to do at the moment. "I'm on the other line with my sister," he told her after a pause. "I can ask if she's seen him."

"Thank you so much. It seems as if all my other children's lines are busy and Niklaus left his at home. My husband is driving out to give it to him but I just want to make sure they're okay because he's not answering his phone either," Mrs. Mikaelson sounded like she was about to lose it.

"Yeah. Okay. Let me ask Elena," Jeremy switched lines. "Elena, Kol's mom is on the other line trying to find out if he's okay." There was nothing on the other end of the line and Jeremy wondered if Elena had hung up. "Elena!" he called loudly.

After a pause he heard his sister shouting. "They're over here!" she cried out loudly. "Oh, God. Stefan, you're going to be okay. Just press down on the wound!"

"Elena, what's going on?" Jeremy yelled but all he heard was static. This was so not cool. If he found out that his sister and her friends were playing some kind of trick on him, he was going to be pissed.

"Jeremy," Bonnie's voice called into his sister's phone. "Oh, God. Jeremy, someone stabbed Stefan. Oh, God. He's bleeding. A lot. Okay. The paramedics found us. Are you okay?" she cried and Jeremy looked around the house, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm coming to The Falls," Jeremy said. He had made a decision. He was not going to just sit here like some kind of lame dunk, waiting to be picked off by whatever lunatic was out there. Besides, he just had to survive for… another twenty-three hours and thirty-two minutes. He could do that.

"Jeremy, no, as soon as Stefan is at the hospital, I'm going to come there. Okay? You just need to wait for me," Bonnie said stubbornly and Jeremy shook his head.

Before he could respond Bonnie had hung up, "Jeremy?" Mrs. Mikaelson called and Jeremy sighed heavily.

"Yes. Sorry. I don't know if Kol is okay…" he began when he heard a noise in the background of the Mikaelson home.

'"Rebekah, oh, dear, what's happened? Why are your clothes bloody? Rebekah, what happened? Oh, God, Rebekah? Rebekah!" and then all Jeremy could hear was the phone hitting the floor. Moments later he heard Rebekah Mikaelson let out a scream and then nothing at all. Someone must have hung up the phone.

Going into the kitchen, Jeremy replaced the phone in its holder. He started to pace the length of the kitchen floor. What was he supposed to do? His friends were obviously in danger. His sister was high on something. Or maybe the Red Bull was doing something to him. Had he gone to sleep and didn't remember?

The doorbell rang and Jeremy jumped as he turned to look at the door. He had no idea who could be at the door. It couldn't be Bonnie that quickly. Hopefully not Elena. Moving to the counter, he pulled open a drawer and grabbed a meat cleaver. Holding it up, he moved to the door and ticked the lock open. When it made a tiny sound, he groaned inwardly. For some reason he thought the killer would hear that but he was sick of acting like a scared kid.

Yanking the door open, Jeremy felt his heart squeeze when he saw a figure dressed in a dark hoodie like Elena had been wearing when the figure looked up and he blew out a breath. "Oh. What the hell are you doing with that?" the figure asked, elbowing her way past him with an irritated look.

"Liv, you scared the hell out of me," Jeremy snapped as he closed the door and flipped the lock.

"You're scared?" Liv pinned him with an irritable look. "First, Kai insists on going off with his buddies. Then Luke ditches me saying he's got a date and he's not going to allow some freak on the internet stop him from finding love. I told him years ago to stop watching _The_ _Bachelor_."

Jeremy would have hugged Liv, he was so relieved to not be dealing with this by himself, if he wasn't holding a meat cleaver. "I'm going to put this away."

"Good idea," Liv replied, running a hand through her unruly curls. "You haven't heard from Tyler tonight, have you?" she asked. Placing the cleaver back in the drawer, Jeremy shook his head and he heard Liv let out a sigh. "Figures. There's a crazy person trying to remake a horror film and Ty's off being a dick."

Turning around to face the unhappy blonde, Jeremy tried to think of something to help his friend's case but he couldn't think of anything. Opening his mouth, he heard the doorbell ring. Reaching into the drawer, he withdrew the meat cleaver as Liv bounded up the stairs. Jeremy walked slowly back to the front door to answer it. By the time he got there, Liv was on her way down with his baseball bat.

"On the count of five," Jeremy whispered to Liv who nodded. She took the right of the door where she would not be seen while Jeremy took the left. "One."

"Two," Liv whispered back.

"Three," he said.

"Four."

"Five," a voice behind them added and Liv screamed while Jeremy came very close to burying the cleaver inside Tyler Lockwood's head.

"Damn, man. What has gotten into you?" Tyler asked as Liv dropped the bat and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank God you're okay," Liv moaned as Tyler patted her back.

"How did you get in here?" Jeremy asked.

"The backdoor. It's unlocked," Tyler pointed to the door which was standing wide open.

"Oh!" Liv's eyes rounded and she scooped up the bat. "You two need to stay here. The killer said they were after guys. So I should be safe. Theoretically speaking," she added as an afterthought.

"Theoretically?" Tyler spat out with a frown. "Have you both been smoking something? And if you are, want to share?"

"Tyler, someone stabbed Oliver Kenner at The Falls. They also attacked Stefan Salvatore," Jeremy explained to his friend who looked confused.

"What? I was just there like about half an hour ago. Then my mom called and she was telling mr to leave the party. Weird. But she's crazy and pops sleeping pills. Speaking of which. I wonder if we took some with some Red Bull -"

"Shut up, Tyler!" Liv snarled at her boyfriend.

"Is it that time?" Tyler asked Liv who poked him with the end of the bat.

"Shut it or so help me I will offer you up to this freak," Liv threatened him. When Tyler closed his mouth, she turned her back on him and headed toward the back door.

"You know when you're trying to be all badass, it's kind of a turn on," Tyler was saying when Liv held up a hand to quiet him. Jeremy was right behind them as she popped her head outside. "Shit," she cried, dropping the bat.

"Kol!" Tyler's smile dropped into a deep frown as he helped Liv pull Kol to his feet. His shirt was covered in blood and he had a nasty scratch on his face.

"Help me," Kol hissed out as he clutched his chest wound. The couple dropped their friend onto the couch while Jeremy headed upstairs to find a first aid kit. When he looked up, he thought he saw someone in Elena's room. Turning around, he found that there was no one there. Shaking his head, he hurried down the stairs.

Liv was pulling off Kol's shirt when she let out a groan. "Kol, that is not funny," she snapped when Kol began to laugh.

"The party was lame. So we thought we'd come here and give you a good scare. Fortunately, it wasn't just Jeremy. And this is going on YouTube," Kol announced as he punched buttons on his phone.

"You're both a couple of assholes," Liv snarled as she got to her feet. "I'm going back home. I hope you three enjoy it when you're suffering from real stab wounds and no one does anything about it."

"Yeah. Sure," Tyler scoffed. "Now, what was it you were saying about Oliver being dead, 'cause, Jer, you really have to work on your sense of humor," he continued as he helped Kol clean the fake blood off.

"Elena said that Oliver Kenner was killed at The Falls," Jeremy repeated. He felt like he was going crazy. Or maybe it was that everyone else was crazy.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Yeah, mate. I think your sister was trying to play a prank on you. Hold on. My phone is ringing. Yes? Hello?" he called into the phone. He lifted the phone with a shrug before placing it to his ear again.

"Hello? Father? Dad?" Kol's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the others.

"Knock. Knock," a voice called and Jeremy felt his stomach drop as Kol pulled the phone away because the person was yelling. "I said knock, knock," the voice yelled and then laughed.

"Whose there?" Tyler answered.

"I killed your daddy and I'm coming for you," the voice sang.

Kol curled his fist. "Look, the joke is over. So, you can stop now." His voice was shaking as he spoke.

After a moment the voice replied. "Oh, wait. Not dead. So sad. Want to talk to Kol? Yes? Okay. I think I can honor a last request."

"Kol?" Mikael's voice called through the phone.

"Yes, dad?" Kol looked like he was going to cry now.

"Kol, I'm sorr-" Kol's father never got to finish because the end of his sentence came out as a choked gurgle.

"DAD!" Kol shouted into the phone.

"Sorry. I cut daddy's head off. Now, it's your turn," the voice cried out with another laugh that made Jeremy's stomach spin. The line went dead followed by the sound of someone knocking on the front door. Each pair of eyes went to it. Then they remembered the back door.

Running for the back door, Jeremy remembered that he didn't have his cleaver any more. He had set it beside Kol.

As he skidded in front of the door, he was met with Elena who was smiling widely. "I said I'd be back," she told him just before she leapt forward with a growl and butcher knife in hand…

 **Dum, dum, dum… And so one of the killers has been revealed. Sort of. Wonder who else could be out hunting this Halloween…**

 **Thank you for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing.**

 **Answers to guest reviews:**

 **Guest: My sentiments exactly.**

 **Lou: Thank you!**

 **Guest: I am and hopefully with a lot more where this came from. We will see…**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, my lovely readers. I'm a little late on posting this chapter. Sorry! On with the show…**

Chapter 3: Doctor's Orders

Halloween: 12:10 a.m.

Caroline Forbes was shaking in her boots. There was something seriously wrong in these woods tonight but she's trying to not show how scared she was. Elena had moved aside to try to talk to Jeremy while Bonnie was keeping an eye out for anyone with a weapon. Elijah Mikaelson came running through the trees to fall down on his knees beside a grieving Hayley. And Damon. Where in the hell was Damon? And Klaus? Feeling her heart begin to pound, Caroline spun around on her heel slowly, trying to catch sight of Klaus, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen and hadn't been all night.

"Rebekah?!" Caroline called, rubbing her arms. She could have sworn that Rebekah and Stefan had joined the crowd. They had been on the other side from where she was standing. Now there were only trees and kids she wasn't familiar with.

Moving forward on legs that were about to give beneath her, Caroline found herself standing over Elijah. "Elijah," she said, her voice hoarse. "Elijah," she tried again. When he didn't look up from his process of rocking Hayley back and forth as the other girl sobbed into his shirt collar, Caroline placed a hand on his shoulder. "Elijah!"

Elijah jumped nearly falling on top of Hayley who looked up at Caroline with bloodshot, unfocused eyes. "What?" she moaned as Elijah looked up at Caroline, his lips pursed, his eyes blank.

"Klaus. He's missing. I can't find him. And Rebekah. And Stefan. I don't. I don't know…" Caroline felt her throat closing up around the words.

Elijah got to his feet seemingly forgetting that he still had Hayley tucked into his arms, pulling her upward until they were both standing. "Jackson," he called to the brother of the recently deceased who was running his hands over his face and hair.

"No. No. Ollie!" Jackson was groaning.

"Jackson," Elijah snapped and Jackson's eye darted upward.

"What?" Jackson snapped back, his temper flaring as his face flushed crimson and he rose to his feet.

The Mikaelson brother did not seem to be worried about Jackson's reaction. "Take Hayley. Go somewhere safe," he ordered Jackson who just scoffed.

"You still think you can just tell everyone what to do, don't you? We're not in high school any more. And you aren't anything to me. I'm staying with my brother," Jackson snarled back before kneeling down to take Oliver's hand.

Caroline opened her mouth to point out that there was nothing that Jackson could do for his brother now and Elijah needed to stop worrying about the Keeners and find his damned brother. Instead she took a deep breath. "I'll stay with Hayley," she offered and Elijah nodded.

"Hayley, Caroline will watch you until I get back," Elijah told Hayley who simply stared into the woods without reacting. Elijah hesitated before he turned to Caroline. "I will be back soon."

"Right," Caroline said, hugging herself. Then she looked over at Elena. She was still on the phone, possibly with Jeremy. Maybe not. Grabbing Hayley by the hand she dragged the other girl over to where Elena was talking to her brother. "Elena," Caroline called, lightly tapping her friend on the arm. Elena jumped before turning to look at her with wide, fear filled eyes.

"Caroline, have you seen Damon?" Elena asked her immediately. Caroline bit her lip. She hadn't been looking for Damon and now that she peered into the crowd she realized she hadn't seen or heard him either in a while.

"No. And Klaus is missing, too. Elijah went to look for him. Oh, God. What if? I didn't even get to tell him I'm still angry at him. And that I would kill him myself if he's gone off into the woods like an idiot and got himself killed. That is so Klaus," Caroline was more talking herself by this point because Elena was ignoring her in favor of talking to Jeremy. Which was totally understandable. She stopped talking when Hayley let out a hysterical laugh. "What are you laughing about?"

"I don't know," Hayley said as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I don't know. I don't know," she kept saying as she sunk into the dirt before she started screaming, pounding the dirt with closed fists.

Caroline couldn't think of what to say when they heard another scream from the woods. This time it was Damon. Caroline would know his annoying voice anywhere. Yanking Hayley to her feet, Caroline dragged her along as Elena sped ahead of them like she was flying with Bonnie on her heels. They found Damon on the ground beside Stefan.

"Rebekah was here with him. But then her father showed up and took her. I don't know if they got out here safely," Damon was saying as he tried to figure out what to do for Stefan other than hold his hand.

"Stefan," Elena cried, falling down next Damon. She still had very little medical training but Caroline was sure that she could help. "Just press down on the wound," Elena was ordering Damon as Bonnie took Elena's phone and started talking to Jeremy.

Caroline was gripping Hayley's hand firmly in hers as the other girl just stared at Stefan without a word. "We've got…" she had no idea how to finish that statement when a paramedic came running toward them with another two and a stretcher. They forced the friends to move away from Stefan.

After that everything was happening so quickly Caroline could barely keep up. Stefan was being moved through the woods with Damon running along with them. Bonnie told her and Elena that she going back to the Gilberts. They hugged and Bonnie was gone. A paramedic insisted that someone needed to drive Hayley to the hospital because she was in shock.

That was how Caroline found herself driving to the hospital with Elena in the passenger seat and Hayley and Jackson in the back. Two minutes into the trip it dawned on her that they had left Elijah back at The Falls. If Klaus was still alive and well and something happened to his brother, Klaus would kill her. Stopping the car, Caroline turned the car around in a wide U-turn.

"Caroline, what are you doing? The hospital is that way?" Elena yelled as Caroline sped back toward The Falls.

Opening her mouth, Caroline was about to reply when she spotted Elijah running amongst the cars trying to find something. She was about to shout to him when she noticed a hooded figure stalking toward him. Whoever it was was holding a butcher knife. Gritting her teeth because she had had enough of whoever this person was who was ruining Halloween, Caroline pressed the accelerator to the floor, making everyone in the car scream as she sped forward toward the hooded figure.

Feeling her blood coursing through her veins, Caroline grinned just as her car approached the hooded freak and then they drove away. "No!" Caroline shouted, hitting the steering wheel in frustration.

"Elijah!" Hayley shouted, opening her door and Elena whirled around as the hooded figure got to his/her feet and ran toward the car.

"Close the door!" Elena screamed as the hooded figure ran toward Hayley with the knife upraised and then Elijah appeared. He was holding a tire iron and smacked their would-be assailant's shoulder. The knife hit the ground and Elijah jumped into the car, falling on top of Hayley and Jackson.

"Drive!" Elijah shouted as the hooded figure who would not die got to his/her feet and no one had to tell Caroline twice as she pounded her foot on the accelerator.

"Did you find Klaus?" Caroline shouted at Elijah who was settling himself between Jackson and Hayley.

"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "I tried to, but he… I hope he went home," Elijah said but she could hear the doubt in his voice.

As they drove down the road, they noticed a car parked by the road side. "That's my father's!" Elijah cried and Caroline stopped. She would be so relieved to see Mr. Mikaelson or any adult right then. Maybe he had Klaus with him.

Elijah got out of the car and then screamed when he looked inside. "NO!" Elena and Caroline followed him out. Hayley got out and came to stand beside Elijah who had fallen to his knees.

"Oh, my God!" Caroline screamed, seeing Mr. Mikaelson's head in the passenger side seat, no longer attached to his body.

"We have to go," Hayley told Elijah, yanking on him as he tried to pull away.

"Father!" Elijah cried out.

"Help me!" Hayley yelled, finally coming out of her shock for a minute at least. Elena and Caroline helped drag Elijah to the car. They sat for ten seconds before Caroline hit the gas and they were flying forward along the empty street, in silence.

By the time they got to the hospital, Caroline felt like she was in shock, too. This was one long nightmare and they still had another twenty-two hours to go according to the clock in the lobby of the emergency room. Elena went to the counter and asked for Stefan Salvatore's floor. He was on the fourth floor. They had taken him to surgery but they could sit in the waiting room.

Elena led them to the elevators. She punched the button as Elijah mumbled to himself. When they arrived Caroline caught sight of Damon pacing around. He looked drained. "Hey," he said when he saw everyone who had come.

"My father was decapitated," Elijah told Damon who blinked.

"What?" Damon asked with his eyes widening to the point that Caroline feared they would fall out.

Elena took Damon's hand. "What did they tell you about how Stefan is doing?"

"He's," Damon looked at Elijah who Caroline had forced to sit down. "The doctor told me that he been stabbed three times but that they'd missed any major organs. I guess I should thank Rebekah. She's the one who stopped the killer… from killing Stef. I don't know what he was thinking going out there off by himself," he continued.

"We just need to stay together," Caroline added and Damon nodded.

"Where's Bonnie?" Damon asked, looking at them. "And where's Klaus?"

"Bonnie left before we did to go be with Jeremy," Caroline said and then Elijah interrupted.

"When did you see Niklaus?" he asked Damon.

Damon stared at the wall like that would give him the answers. "Like an hour ago… Wait. No, what time is it?"

"It's two o'clock," Hayley told him, looking at her phone.

"Ummm… It must have been when I arrived at the party. He was looking for Caroline. But you weren't there yet. Then he started drinking and I lost track of him," Damon looked at Caroline whose breath hitched in her lungs.

"I'm sure he's fine," Elena told Caroline and Elijah who did not look like they believed her.

"Okay. So, I'm going to get some coffee," Caroline said. She moved toward the machine. Removing a dollar, she started to stuff it into the machine when she noticed Hayley moving away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Caroline hissed but the other girl just hurried off. Caroline huffed as she tried to make up her mind about which coffee she wanted. Looking up at the group, she turned and ran after Hayley who had snuck into the stairwell. "Where are you going?" Caroline called as she chased the other girl down.

"I'm going to get some drugs," Hayley said. "I need something to calm down and something to keep me from falling asleep."

"This isn't _Nightmare_ on _Elm_ _Street_ ," Caroline reminded the brunette who let out a chuckle.

"Could have fooled me," Hayley retorted as she pushed a door open. She walked by someone and grabbed their visitor's pass before getting a nurse to let her onto the sixth floor. Caroline felt guilty as she swiped a doctor's keys. They hurried down the hall, ducking into corners to hide from doctors. Yanking the door to a closet open, Hayley found the drugs and held out her hand for Caroline to offer the keys.

"Watch for people," Hayley ordered as she shoved keys in and pulled them out until she found the right one. Caroline was watching when someone went walking by in a pair of scrubs. Ducking her head, Caroline let out a cry when someone jerked the door open and she came face to face with Klaus.

"Klaus," Caroline whispered, her eyes widening. She was about to say something else when Klaus slammed a hand over her mouth. His eyes flicked to Hayley and he signaled for her to be silent with an upraised hand.

Caroline wanted to ask Klaus what was going on when she noticed the bandage on his arm. "Klaus," she whispered again when he pulled his hand down.

"Caroline. Hayley. We need to get out of this hospital. Now!" Klaus announced, taking Caroline's hand, he jerked her out of the closet and they were moving quickly down the hall. They stopped when two doctors began to chat as they walked down the hall. Klaus jerked Caroline behind a corner and then shoved Hayley into her with a frightened expression on his face.

"A psych patient escaped from the eighth floor," one of the doctors told the other one.

"What did the person look like?" the other doctor asked.

"Male. Early twenties. White. Tall. Thin," the first doctor told the second.

"And he has a British accent," the doctor that Caroline had seen when she was in the closet told him. She noticed that Klaus slammed himself against the wall, his chest moving rapidly as his breathing became erratic.

"Yeah," the first doctor said with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll find him, Dr. O'Connell, and you can take him back to New Orleans. How did he get this far, anyway?"

"He's always been able to manipulate people. I'm sure he found a way. He always does," Dr. O'Connell told them with a sunny smile.

When the three walked off, Klaus took Caroline by the hand who reached out and grabbed Hayley by the hand. As a group, they ran as fast as they could down the hall and into the stairwell. They were trying to get to the fifth floor when Hayley slipped and knocked the other two down the remaining five stairs. They landed in a pile at the base of the fifth floor steps.

The first thing that Hayley did was make sure that the drugs were fine. "Cool," she breathed as Caroline and Klaus glared at her. "Sorry. We need these." Looking back at the stairs, he eyes rounded. "There's blood. I slipped on blood."

"Oh, no," Caroline moaned as she looked at it.

"We need to go!" Klaus reminded them as they heard a set of running footsteps coming downwards.

"Come on." Caroline got to her feet and pulled Hayley up.

They were running when they heard the person right behind them. "Go. Now," she ordered and they ran into the fifth floor lobby. If they could make the elevator, they would be fine. She turned around to find that Hayley was missing. Seeing a fire extinguisher. Caroline grabbed it and ran back.

"Caroline!" Klaus cried as he followed her back into the staircase. Caroline was so done with being scared. When she entered the stairwell, she raised her weapon of choice when Klaus grabbed her and she gasped when she realized she had almost killed Elijah who had blood coming out from his ankle.

"There is a fake doctor here. We need to leave as soon as possible," Elijah was saying to Hayley when he turned to see Caroline's arms raised over her head, ready to smash his brains in.

"Caroline, if you must kill someone, make sure you're killing the right person," Elijah said with his usual calm demeanor.

Caroline felt ashamed when she lowered her arms. Then she heard another voice. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you. You really shouldn't have tried to leave the ward," Dr. O'Connell was saying as she moved down the stairs. "I'll have to have you restrained once we get back," she was telling Klaus.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked the doctor who blinked her blue eyes back at Caroline like she was stupid.

"I've called security. They should be here any time now. If I were you, kids. I would leave before you end up in jail tonight," she informed them. "Now, come along, Klaus."

"He's not going anywhere with you," Caroline said, raising the fire extinguisher again.

"Yes, he is. And I would put that down if I were you or you'll find yourself in a restraints, too," the not so good doctor informed Caroline with a smile that chilled Caroline.

"I don't think so," Hayley said before shoving a needle into the doctor's arm. "Have a nice nap, bitch."

They took off down the stairs as the doctor slumped onto the steps. Elijah was in the lead as he shoved the doors to the waiting room open. Elena and Damon looked up with matching expressions of confusion. "We have to leave," Elijah announced as Damon looked at them.

"We can't. Stefan's still here. The doctor just came in to tell me that he just got out of surgery," Damon said as Elijah shook his head.

"Where's Jackson?" Hayley asked, looking around.

"A cop came to take him to the morgue," Elena told her gently. Hayley nodded as tears ran down her cheeks.

"We should find Stefan and leave," Klaus said as he looked around.

"How?" Damon asked.

"I have privileges here," Elena spoke up and the others nodded. "I'll get you all some scrubs. She disappeared for ten minutes while Damon began to pace again. When his girlfriend reappeared with the scrubs, causing other visitors to give them weird looks, Elena forced a smile.

"It's Halloween," Elena reminded them. That seemed to do the trick and they separated, changing their clothes in the bathrooms. Coming out, Elena showed her I. D. before a nurse let her through. "Sorry. I forgot the code. That's what happens when you're new."

The group hurried to Stefan's room. Stefan was asleep when Damon woke him. "Hey, baby brother," he said quietly.

"Hey!" Stefan replied.

"It's time to go," Damon said gently.

"What?" Stefan looked confused when Klaus yanked his bedclothes off and looked for his clothes.

"Looks like you'll be leaving in the gown," Klaus muttered before he and Damon helped Stefan off the bed. Caroline was half in and half out of the room, watching people as they passed by. When the coast was clear, they left the room, with Stefan. Soon they were entering an elevator and they were sure everything would be okay when the elevator door opened to a group of security officers with their guns drawn.

"Shit," Klaus whispered and Caroline felt the same as a pair of handcuffs were slapped onto her wrists. This nightmare was just getting started.

 **And now you know who two of the killers are. Now, who are the others?**

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Answers to guest reviews:**

 **halfmylifeDE: Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun branching out into to writing horror with this fic and it's wonderful that readers are enjoying it too. Trust me, there will be a lot of Damon and Elena moments in this story. Damon will be targeted at some point in the story but I can't say when just yet.**

 **Peace,**

 **J**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, my lovely readers. It's that time of the month again: time for some horror and gore. On with the show…**

Chapter 4: Run, Just Run

Rebekah Mikaelson was more than a little tipsy when she was taking another sip from the cup she and Stefan Salvatore had been sharing. He was funny and cute so right now she wasn't worried about what Marcellus Gerard was doing back at their college. She was having fun. That was until there was a scream and then everyone was pushing and shoving each other to get to the scene of the possible crime. Stefan gave her a reassuring smile. It must be a joke since midnight had come and gone. There was nothing to be afraid of.

"Let's go see what all the fuss is about?" Stefan had said and Rebekah nodded although she did not want to know. Something in her gut told her to leave. To take Stefan and to leave this place. Looking up at the full moon, she shivered. Stefan took that the wrong way and wrapped his arm around her.

"Oh," Rebekah registered that there was a body but did not know who it was until she saw Hayley. "Oh, no," she moaned. "No. _No_ ," she moved to join her friends when Stefan leaned over and vomited. "Stefan?" Rebekah cried when he waved her off.

"I'm fine. I…" Stefan shook his head. "I have a thing about blood… I can't… I have to go… I'm sorry," Stefan was muttering as he stumbled away. Rebekah wrapped her arms around herself as she looked across the way to see Caroline Forbes. She wondered if Nik had found her. They had been having one of their silly rows. Her brother could be daft sometimes. Caroline was watching the scene and talking to Elena Gilbert when it occurred to Rebekah to go look for Stefan.

Trudging through the woods, she looked around, feeling miserable that she was here in this filth. She had told Stefan they should stay at his place since his father was on a business trip and Damon would be out late with the Gilbert girl. But no. They had to go to this party because everyone else was going. Ugh.

Tripping over a rock, Rebekah groaned, looking down at the dirt on her pants. She had had to beg her father to buy her the five hundred dollar pair of jeans. Now they were ruined. Sighing, Rebekah got to her feet when she caught sight of Stefan. And he wasn't alone. Damn him. Why did she always have to choose the cheats? Rolling her eyes, she was about to yell at him when she saw the figure raise a knife and slash downward.

Opening her mouth, Rebekah felt nothing come out but a moan. Neither Stefan nor the hooded figure seemed to hear her when they began to roll around in the dirt, fighting for control of the knife that flashed in the moonlight. Whirling around, Rebekah found a large stick, more like a small log. _It is a good thing I go to the gym regularly_ , she thought as she hefted the wood in her hands, getting a feel for the weight before she marched over to the attacker and hit the person as hard as she could.

The person fell backwards as the hood fell down. A head of long, black hair was revealed and Rebekah had no idea who this woman was. "You'll _pay_ for that," she announced in a hiss as she looked for the knife. Rebekah watched as blood ran down her foe's face. She was now scrambling away from Rebekah who was smiling despite her terror.

Right as Rebekah raised the log to finish the lunatic in the woods off so that they could have some peace tonight someone yelled. " _Stefan_!" Flinching, Rebekah's head automatically moved to the right, taking in the sight of Damon skidding to a stop beside his wounded brother.

Turning her head, Rebekah looked down to find that the woman was gone. And so was her knife. _Damn it!_ Rebekah thought.

"Bekah, call 911," Damon ordered and Rebekah dropped her weapon, pulling out her phone. She dialed the number. Listening to the all too familiar statement of "911, what is your emergency?" Rebekah looked at Stefan.

"My friend was stabbed. We're at The Falls. Please _hurry_ ," she told the operator before she heard her name being called.

" _Father_?" Rebekah moaned as her father ran to her. Without thinking, she allowed her phone to slip from her fingers. Throwing her arms around her father's neck, Rebekah began to sob. "Someone attacked Stefan. I saw her face but I don't know who she is. And she killed Oliver Kenner," she reported to her father who looked around and his eyes stopped on Stefan.

" _Where_ are your brothers?" Mikael demanded.

"I don't know," Rebekah replied, placing a hand to her face and realizing that there was blood there. "Was she bleeding?" she wondered. Looking down at her palm, she saw that she must have cut herself on the log. "I know that Nik was here. But I haven't seen him for at least an hour. He probably left because Caroline made him angry. Kol left to frighten Jeremy Gilbert. And Elijah… He disappeared, too. He probably went looking for Nik…"

Mikael took Rebekah's hand and began to pull her out of the woods. "Father, _no_. I have to _stay_. I know who stabbed Stefan."

"The police can come find us. I need to find your brothers. Your mother will never forgive me if something happens to another child of ours," he was muttering.

"What?" Rebekah felt confused. "What other child?"

"Henrick," Mikael snapped and Rebekah closed her mouth, allowing her father to drag her to his car. They got inside and he put his keys in the ignition. Soon they were on the road. Rebekah felt annoyed. She wanted to ask her father to stop the bloody car. Elijah and Nik were probably still at The Falls and she was perfectly safe because she was a girl. The killer was after the boys. She would be fine.

"You shouldn't have come back," Mikael told her and Rebekah frowned as he drove faster with his eyes on the road. "I don't know why you would come back here. There is nothing here for you," he continued.

Rebekah opened her mouth to argue that he and her mother and her brothers were there when someone stepped in front of their car. She screamed and her father drove off onto the side of the road. "Bloody hell," Rebekah groaned as she looked up and then she realized that whoever it was, was no longer there. "What in the—" Rebekah had barely uttered the words when the person appeared by her window. "Oh, no!" she moaned. _How many of these people were there?_ she wondered as the person grinned back at her and then slammed their elbow into the window, trying to break it.

"What are you doing?" Mikael demanded when someone appeared on the windshield, carrying an axe. Rebekah screamed again when the axe went sailing toward the windshield. She wasn't sure how her father moved so quickly but she found herself in the backseat somehow. "Go," he shouted at her as the person on the right side of the car opened the passenger side door and climbed in beside her father.

Rebekah opened the left side door in the back and leapt out. The lunatic who had attacked Stefan was staring at her with her teeth pulled back in a grin. "Leave her," her partner shouted from inside the car. "We'll find her later. Time to ask _daddy_ where his boys have gone off to. If you tell us, we'll kill you quickly. If not…"

"Run, just _run_ , Rebekah," her father shouted at her and Rebekah knew she would never see him again as she ran for her life. She only stopped when she thought the two freaks would think she was long gone. Stopping and hiding behind a tree, she waited, counting off the minutes in her head. When she was sure they were done with whatever they were doing, she retraced her steps.

Moving silently, Rebekah saw that the two killers were gone. Or maybe they were waiting for her. That was too bad. She honestly had no idea where any of her brothers were. When she was close enough to the car, she looked inside to find her father, and his head. Closing her eyes, Rebekah fell down, placing her head in her father's lap. She could feel his blood covering her clothes and didn't care. She would find the butchers who did this and make them pay.

With a shaking hand, Rebekah pulled the keys out of the ignition, she moved around the side of the car and unlocked the glove compartment. Withdrawing the gun that her father kept there, she checked to make sure it was loaded before she tucked it into the front of the waistband of her jeans. No one was going to pull it out when they snuck up behind her.

Marching down the street, Rebekah felt like she was in an episode of _The_ _Walking_ _Dead_. Only she wasn't dealing with zombies. When she had walked for a mile, she went into a flat out run. Her house was another mile away but she had been a track star at sixteen so this was nothing. Just one little mile and then she would be with her mother.

When she got to her front door, she began to bang on it, not paying heed to the fact that she had two pairs of keys on her. Giving up, she withdrew her father's keys. Her hands were blood covered and sweaty. They dropped to the ground and she sighed. She couldn't see them because she was crying. Pulling out her own from her purse, she shoved the correct key into the lock.

Opening the door, Rebekah nearly fell inside. Her mother was walking out from the Great Room with the cordless in hand. She thought her mother said Jeremy before she dropped the phone to the floor. "Rebekah? Oh, God, Rebekah. Rebekah!" her mother kept repeating her name as Rebekah felt her eyes roll back in her head and she was falling to the floor.

What felt like hours later, Rebekah woke to find she was resting on a couch "Mother?" she called, sitting up. " _Mother_?" she wondered if someone had done something to her mother when Esther came into the room with a look of concern.

"Oh, Rebekah. I looked all over you for wounds but I only found one on your hand," Rebekah looked down to find that it was bandaged.

"Have you seen your brothers tonight? I've been trying to get through to them. And there's something wrong with the phone line. It won't go through. Leave it to Niklaus to not charge his phone," she laughed. "And your father was supposed to bring you home. Apparently absentmindedness runs in the family."

Remembering what happened to her father, Rebekah felt tears swimming in her eyes. She was about to tell her mother when she heard the front door open and close with a bang. "That must be Mikael," Esther said with a smile.

"Or Nik," Rebekah added, getting to her feet.

"Or _not_ ," one of the two people who had attacked her on the road side called. "Hello again," the freak called with a wave.

Rebekah reached for the gun and then realized that it wasn't there anymore. " _No_ ," she moaned.

"Looking for _this_?" another voice asked and Rebekah felt her stomach spin as the second figure, the woman who had stabbed Stefan asked, holding up a set of keys. Her father's. How could she be so stupid?

"Now, we're going to play a little game where you tell us where your sons are or I get unhappy. You could ask your husband about that, but since he's kind of," the first crazy person drew their finger across their neck. "I would say you're screwed."

" _Why_ are you doing this?" Esther asked as she came to stand in front of Rebekah.

Pushing her hood back, the one without an axe rolled her eyes. "Because you choose your _boys_ over _me_ , mother."

" _Freya_?" Esther turned pale.

"But it looks like you got a little girl, too. Guess it's time to make girls fair game, too," Freya said, pointing her knife at Rebekah with a smile. Rebekah could see that her… sister had lost her mind.

"Rebekah, run, just _run_!" Esther shouted and Rebekah shook her head when her mother turned and shoved her away, hard.

Rebekah fell, but was on her feet in seconds, sprinting for the door and hoping that another killer wasn't waiting for her. Ripping the back door open, she could hear Freya shouting after her. "Wherever you go, I'll always _find_ you, sister."

Climbing a fence, Rebekah dashed across the yard and ran along the sidewalk, looking for someone, anyone familiar. When she saw a set of headlights, she began to wave her arms frantically, hoping that it was someone who wouldn't try to kill her.

Bonnie Bennett rolled her window down. "Hey, Rebekah. Oh! Are you okay?" she asked when Rebekah jerked her car door open and hopped into the passenger seat.

"No. Both my parents are dead. I have a long lost sister who is _killing_ people. And I can't find any of my brothers." Rebekah looked out the windshield and then back at Bonnie. "I assure you that sitting here staring at me will only get you killed."

Bonnie's eyes widened before she began to drive. "I'm going to Jeremy's," she told Rebekah who nodded along.

Of course, she was. Bonnie was probably driving into more mortal danger, but what else was new, right? Nothing at all. Rebekah was now becoming accustomed to people being completely crazy and doing the things that made the least amount of sense. She refused to speak until they parked beside the Gilbert house.

Getting out of the car, Rebekah tensed when someone else got out of a car in front of the Parker residence. "Kai," Bonnie called with a look of relief. Rebekah also felt relieved even though she had barely spoken two words to the oldest Parker since his family moved to town.

"Hey. Liv called me and told me to get my ass home but then she hung up or something. Besides the dead bodies in the woods were kind of killing the mood. So what's up with you?" Kai asked with a wide grin.

"My father was beheaded and my mother made me leave her with couple of psychos," Rebekah told him and Kai just stared at her before he let out a laugh.

"Man, Halloween really makes people say some weird shit," he said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she headed toward the Gilbert house. She didn't have to knock because the front door was wide open. There was a bloody hand print on it and Rebekah groaned. Why? Why couldn't she go anywhere without this happening?

"Jeremy?" Bonnie called.

"Oh, cool. Fake blood. Are they like hosting a House of Horrors tonight?" Kai asked and Rebekah turned to glare at him. Kai's eyes widened when he realized that she was not faking it and he held up his hands. "'Kay. Someone forgot her Midol."

"This is why I _never_ liked you," Rebekah spat before she stomped forward, grimacing at the blood on the couch. There was a lot more by the back door.

Bonnie stopped by the phone and hit the answering machine. "Jeremy, we've been arrested. Don't ask why. Just call Aunt Jenna and bail us out. Like now," the last part was Damon yelling in the background before there was a click.

"I wonder what happened in here?" Kai looked around and scratched the back of his head. He placed his finger on the kitchen counter and whipped a smear of blood off, placing it to his tongue, he gagged. "What kind of freaks use _real_ blood?"

"Those who don't _live_ to tell the tale," Rebekah snapped at him. Turning her back on the scene, she moved toward the front door.

"Where are you _going_?" Bonnie called after Rebekah.

"I'm going to find my brothers before they, too, become the victims of tonight's Halloween massacre."

"Maybe they're in jail with Elena and Damon," Kai said absently, still looking at the blood and beginning to frown.

"Yes, maybe they are," Rebekah retorted.

"Think my sister might be there too," Kai asked.

"Probably," Rebekah replied no longer caring what he had to say.

"I'm coming with you," the Parker pain in Rebekah's ass called as Bonnie got into her car.

"Fine. Just keep your mouth _shut_ ," Rebekah ordered the male in their group.

"If you say so," Kai replied with a smile.

Rebekah settled into her seat as Bonnie began to drive toward the Sheriff's Station. It was not that Rebekah believed that Caroline's mother would keep Elena and Damon, who were practically her excess children over night, it was that she was afraid of what their presence would draw. And she was hoping that Damon knew how Stefan was doing. What would be better than that would be if he knew where her brothers were. Sighing, she closed her eyes when she heard the car make a thudding sound.

Her eyes snapped open and Rebekah looked at Bonnie who stared back at her. They got out of the car slowly to find that someone had put a scarecrow in the middle of the road. "Get back _in_ the car!" Rebekah shouted as Axe Lady came running at Bonnie who ducked as the axe hit the top of the car and would not come back out.

Jumping back into the car, Rebekah locked the door as Freya came to stand over her, grinning and waving the bloodied tip of her knife. "You're _next_ ," she mouthed.

Bonnie hopped inside and fired her engine before she twisted the wheel, hitting one, then both the lunatics, driving them back.

"Whoa. Now those people are _really_ into Halloween," Kai said with a laugh. Rebekah was about to hit him when he pulled out his phone. "I've got a message from Liv. Want to hear?" They nodded.

"Kai, some girl that looks just like Elena tried to kill Jeremy but we stopped her. We're on our way to the Sheriff's department. You need to get here," Liv yelled.

"See, even Liv's gotten into the spirit. Man, I love this holiday," Kai rejoiced as Bonnie and Rebekah looked at each other. They wondered how much he would love it if someone stabbed him in the gut. Glaring out into the night, Rebekah knew that if she was forced to endure one more second of listening to his mindless chatter that she would kill him herself. That was when the back windshield exploded and Kai fell forward, blood pouring from a wound in his head. _Yes, finally, someone had shut him up,_ Rebekah had thought with satisfaction.

"We _have_ to go to the hospital," Bonnie said, looking back at Kai.

"He's _dead_ ," Rebekah replied.

" _No_ , he's still breathing," Bonnie told her, placing her hand to his mouth.

"Damn. Well, drop me at the sheriff's _first_. I still have my gold card and someone has to rescue Elena and Damon from their stupidity as usual," she retorted.

Minutes later they arrived at the Sheriff's with twenty-one hours, ten minutes and five seconds remaining.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Answers to Guest reviews:**

 **halfmylifeDE: Thank for the sweet review. I know, I try not to write stories where the plot focuses on a couple and their dynamics. Life is colored by all of the people we encounter and the events that shape us.**

 **Peace,**

 **J**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is a Damon/Delena chapter for all of us who miss them so. :,( On with the show…**

Chapter 5: Why Won't Anybody Listen?

Damon Salvatore had been sitting in his house, writing a text to Elena to send her a sickeningly sweet message that if anyone else read he would kill them when Stefan ran into his room. "Damon, there's going to be a party at The Falls and we have to go," he had said and Damon rolled his eyes. He wanted to go but Elena had made him promise that he would not go out tonight. He knew that she was probably just being paranoid. However, he didn't want to give her grief so he was going to stay at home.

"Damon. No! We have to go! Everyone will be talking about it on Monday," Stefan complained, coming over and sitting down beside his brother, bouncing up and down like a five year old on too much sugar.

"No, and that's my final answer," Damon snapped before shoving Stefan onto the floor.

Stefan jumped to his feet with ease and a wide grin. "Fine. I hope you have a great night by yourself. And I'm taking your Camaro."

"No, you're not," Damon shouted, looking at the bureau, he noticed that his car keys were missing. "Stefan Salvatore. I'm going to kick your ass," he shouted as he bounded down the stairs with his leather jacket thrown over his shoulder.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and the Halloween Killer will get me," Stefan yelled back with glee as he flung the door open.

"I'm serious!" Damon shouted as he ran through the open door. Stefan had his house key so he couldn't lock up. Whatever. Not like he was worried about it. Slamming the door closed, he followed Stefan and hopped into the driver's side. Soon the brothers were on their way. Stefan turned on some Bon Jovi and Damon sang along with Stefan in spite of himself.

Pulling up, Damon caught sight of Klaus Mikaelson who looked bored out of his mind. "Yo, Nik," he called, holding out his arms.

Klaus turned to his friends and instantly brightened. He came over to hug them both, slapping the two bothers on the back before turning to the crowd a couple of yards away but still visible. "Hey," he greeted them. "You wouldn't happen to know if Elena and Caroline are coming?" he asked, looking away and then looking at Damon who shrugged.

"Caroline will probably come. You know she can't resist a good party," Damon stated. As for Elena, he had no idea, she had sworn she wasn't coming out tonight for any reason and he shouldn't either. So much for that.

Klaus nodded along and they headed toward the festivities. Damon watched people drinking and dancing. When he turned around he found that Stefan had wondered off with Rebekah. Rolling his eyes, Damon looked for other people he knew. Kol Mikaelson was talking to Tyler Lockwood. Elijah Mikaelson was nursing a beer and watching others with a frown. Gee, what this party needed was a chaperon. Then he noticed that Elijah's gaze kept moving to Hayley Marshall who seemed to be attached to Jackson Keener and his brother. Oh, well.

Damon was drunk and bored when Elena showed up and even Caroline's sarcasm could not bring him down while his girl was there. All he wanted was to get her alone but then stupid Caroline had to ruin it, like always. Tuning her out, Damon was not really aware of anything until there was a scream. Then there was chaos and Jackson's brother was dead and Elena was calling Jeremy and Caroline was looking for Klaus.

Scanning the crowd, Damon noticed that first Stefan wandered off, looking sick and then Rebekah disappeared. It must be the blood; he couldn't stand the sight of blood or the drinking. Rolling his eyes, Damon began to push his way through the outer circle of the crowd. He needed to get to his brother before he ended up in the hospital. "Get out of the way," he ordered people, elbowing and shoving them.

When he found Stefan, Damon's stomach twisted painfully. "Stefan," he shouted, running toward his brother and falling down beside him. Looking up, he just barely noticed a girl grab a knife and run off. Shaking his head, he looked at Rebekah. "Call 911," he yelled at the distraught blonde.

Damon heard Rebekah and then he heard her father. Time was moving too quickly. Then Elena was there with Caroline and Bonnie. She was telling him to press down on the wound. Feeling his brother's blood on his hands, Damon felt his heart pounding away as Bonnie talked to someone, probably Jeremy. Within minutes or hours there were paramedics and they were taking Stefan.

"I'm coming with him," Damon told them. He wasn't going to argue. They were taking him with them. Getting into the back of the ambulance, he held his brother's hand as Stefan stared at him, his eyes opening and closing as his breath clouded the oxygen mask. Damn whoever did this to his brother.

Once they were inside the hospital, Damon was led up to the fourth floor where a nurse shoved some papers in his face telling him. "Your brother needs surgery. Right now," he said with a calm expression.

"Okay," Damon replied, scratching his John Hancock and sitting down. After a moment he got to his feet and began to pace, rubbing at his hair. When Elena came in, he let out a sigh. She wrapped her arms around his neck while his heart settled in his chest. Looking around at the others, he had no idea what to say when Elijah announced that his father had been beheaded. That did not make sense. But neither did anything else.

Caroline went off to get coffee. Then Hayley took off. Damon rolled his eyes as he held onto Elena's hand tightly. Jackson got up, "I've got to go to the bathroom," he told them. Damon just nodded.

The next person to ditch them was Elijah. "The girls have been gone too long. I'm going to try to find them," he told Damon and Elena.

"Be careful," Elena said, getting to her feet and hugging Elijah.

"I will," Elijah promised them. "Text me if you get news," he told Damon who nodded.

As soon as they were alone, Damon laid his head on Elena's knees as she stroked his neck. "Stefan will be okay. I swear he'll be okay," she was saying and Damon nodded. Nothing about this night felt like it was going to be okay. Nothing.

At some point, Damon drifted off because he woke to Elena shaking him awake. "Damon, the doctor's here," she whispered as he looked up at her groggily.

"Okay," he said. Sitting up, Damon got to his feet.

"Mr. Salvatore," the doctor greeted him with a smile. "Your brother needed surgery due to being stabbed multiple times in the chest and abdomen, he is lucky because the attacker missed any internal organs. But he did lose a lot of blood and when he wakes up, he will need to rest."

"I will tie him to his bed once we get home," Damon joked, feeling relieved that his brother would be okay.

Elena was smiling when the doctor left them alone. "See, he'll be fine." They had mere minutes to rejoice before Elijah appeared with everyone minus Jackson plus Klaus. "We need to go. Now!" he told them.

Damon was confused. He was still confused after he had dressed in scrubs, pulled his brother out of bed (against doctor's orders) and then they found themselves face to face with a group of armed security guards. It wasn't until the handcuffs were slapped on him that he became angry. "What the hell?" he yelled as Klaus was dragged away. Caroline was also taken away from the group after a doctor shoved a needle in her neck. And Stefan was placed in a wheelchair and wheeled off.

"Hey, where are you taking them?" Elijah shouted. He was being held by two security guards.

"Time to go," one of the guards told them. Damon struggled as he looked at Elena. They were thrown into the back of the deputy from Mystic Falls' car. Elijah and Hayley were thrown into the same car, forcing Damon and Elena to move over. Two deputies got inside and refused to answer the young people's questions or accusations about a killer on the loose.

It wasn't until they were being booked that anyone bothered to talk to them. Liz Forbes came out with a shocked expression. "What is going on with the four of you? Is it not enough that someone attacked your brother, Damon? And you, Hayley, I'm very concerned. I was told that drugs were found in your purse and there is a video of you stabbing a doctor in a stairwell with a syringe. I know that it is Halloween, but this is just too much."

"Sherriff Forbes, we can explain everything," Elena told her.

"And you will. But right now I need to go because there was a report of a man who might have been another victim on a road side near The Falls," Liz explained with her arms crossed.

"You mean my father, yes, I saw his body, he had his head cut off," Elijah told the Sheriff before he stopped talking and stared at the ceiling.

"How?" Liz began to say when Damon interrupted.

"Um, excuse me. Pressing issue here. My brother, you might remember him, goes by the name of Stefan, kind of goofy kid. Well, he's going to die if you don't let me go back to the hospital and get him!" Damon realized he was shouting. Trying to get up, he found a deputy pulling out a gun and pointing it at him. Wasn't it enough that he was handcuffed to a chair?

"Deputy," Liz said sternly as she placed a hand on the barrel, pushing it downward. "I can see that all of you have had your share of excitement tonight what with seeing a dead body and the fact that you have clearly been drinking. And possibly been using drugs that you stole from the hospital." She gave Hayley a pointed look. "I will go out and verify if Elijah was right and that it is his father. If it is, then you have my condolences, Elijah. You'll have to understand with all the prank phone calls we've been receiving tonight about a group of hooded people carrying weapons and attacking and/or killing boys, that our station is overwhelmed."

"Was it a prank when someone killed Oliver?" Hayley yelled, her face contorting as she got to her feet. "And. Shit. Caroline's with that crazy doctor!"

"What?" Liz' eyebrows rose.

Elena and Damon nodded frantically. "Yes, they took Caroline. She was injected with something. But I don't know what. That was the last time I saw her," Elena told the Sheriff who looked confused.

"Why would they do that?" Liz asked them with her hands on her hips.

"We don't know!" Damon yelled. He felt frustrated as he jerked on the handcuffs that were holding him.

"Alright. As soon as I get done checking on… the man that was found I will go to the hospital and find out what's happened to Caroline. It's probably that she was upset. Or you're suffering from mass hallucination," Liz seemed to be talking to herself as she walked off with two Sherriff's deputies.

Damon's head fell back and he rolled his eyes into the back of his head. Why wouldn't anyone freakin' listen? He needed to leave, like yesterday. "Matt?" Elena cried and Damon's head moved upward. He noticed that Matt Donavon had just entered the station. For once Damon was happy to see the former teen football star turned Sheriff's deputy trainee.

"Matt!" Elena called again and Matt came to stood over them.

"Hey, guys, what's going on? Did you like egg a house or something?" Matt asked them with a wide smile.

"No, we were trying to stop Klaus and Stefan from being killed. But now someone has them and Caroline. And I don't know if Jeremy is okay. Can you make some phone calls and try to find out what's going on with them?" Elena begged.

Matt just stared at Elena before he let out a laugh. "Very funny, 'Lena. I see Damon's humor has rubbed off on you. Want some coffee?" Matt inquired as he headed for the coffee maker.

"No! She wants you to do what she told you to do!" Damon snarled and Matt took a step back, his hand moving to his gun.

The blonde man stared down Damon with a worried expression. "Man, what are you on?"

"Nothing!" Elijah yelled as he yanked on his own cuffs.

They were interrupted when there were the sounds of arguing from the front of the station. "What's going on?" Matt called.

A deputy came back to answer. "They found the Halloween Killer," he said with a grin before he spotted Elena. "Shit. She looks just like that girl."

"What?" Matt looked at Elena.

"Who found her?" Elijah snapped with a look that made Damon and Elena exchange a long look.

"At the Gilbert House. Jeremy Gilbert and a group of his friends took her into citizen's arrest after she tried to kill Jeremy," the deputy said.

"Is my brother here?" Elena asked and the deputy looked down at her. Elena ignored him, shouting, "Jeremy!"

"Elena! Let me go back there. I need to talk to my sister," Jeremy was telling someone and then he appeared with an irritated looking girl in a hooded jacket. Her wrists were bond behind her back and Jeremy was shoving her forward.

"Is there anyone else with you?" Elijah asked. "Is Kol with you?"

"No, he was trying to help me when… this… stabbed him in the arm. Liv and Tyler took him to the hospital," Jeremy told them.

"No!" Elijah moaned, gaining the attention of the girl that Jeremy was holding.

"Hello, Elijah. Funny meeting you here. I've been looking for you all night. Why don't you give me a kiss, lover?" the girl said, pushing her body toward Elijah, causing Jeremy to lose his footing for a second. She took the advantage, yanking out of his grip. Lunging forward the girl threw herself onto Elijah, knocking his chair over and wrapping her hands around his throat. "You said that you wouldn't leave me alone in there. You said you'd write and call and visit. You're a liar, like all the other boys."

"Shit," Matt yelled. He pulled the girl off and then threw her to the ground, pressing his knee into her back as her placed handcuffs on her as she laughed.

"Oh, I missed you. I hope we get the same cell. I think we need some alone time," the girl was saying to Elijah as Matt shoved her into a seat, far away from Elijah and pulled her hood down.

Damon, Elena, Matt and Hayley were shocked to see that the girl did look exactly like Elena. "What?" Elena muttered.

"Katherine. I did not mean to lead you on," Elijah began when Katherine let out a laugh.

"You're such an idiot, Elijah. You're just like all the other boys. They all say they'll remember you. But then they find someone else who comes along," Katherine sneered at Hayley. "Don't worry, he'll find a replacement for you, too."

Hayley stared back at Katherine with a sneer of her own. "You're really crazy, you know that, right? I'm not with Elijah."

"Aren't you? My bad. Oh, well. Then I guess I shouldn't have told my friends to kill your friend," Katherine shrugged before grinning.

"You had them kill Oliver!" Hayley shouted.

"No, I was talking about the other one," Katherine replied slowly as she leaned forward and stared at Hayley who looked like she was going to break her chair trying to get to Katherine. "Didn't you know? So sad. He was kind of hot."

Sitting back in her seat, Katherine turned to Elena with a smile. "There you are. I was hoping we would meet tonight. I wanted to know what I might have turned out to be if I had grown up with him," she nodded at Jeremy before turning back to Elena. "Not impressed."

"What are you talking about?" Damon snapped at Katherine.

"Your girlfriend's the one with the brains. So don't strain yourself trying to figure this puzzle out," Katherine taunted Damon who already hated her.

Damon felt like nothing he had ever thought he knew was true. And all he could think about was finding Stefan because right now he was a sitting duck. Then again, so was he. "What do you want?" Damon asked Katherine who smirked at him.

"I want you to die. No, correction. I want you to suffer," Katherine said like that made a whole lot of sense. And maybe to her warped sense of the world it did.

"Why?" Elena repeated. "Because you hate guys because you can't find someone to love you. Or is it because you just like to hurt people because it satisfies some hole inside you."

Katherine began to chuckle. "Oh, look whose using their two whole classes in psychology." Elena's eyes widened. "Yeah, I know about your transcript. I also know when you lost your V-card to Damon. I know so much about you, Elena. Why? Because it was all supposed to be mine."

"Lady, you're nuts," Damon snapped. Man, he was sick of Halloween and it was far from over.

"What don't you like about me? Katherine asked Damon with a pout. "Trust me, you would like me better if I'd been here instead of her."

"But you weren't," Elena replied and Katherine sighed.

"Yes, and you can't go back. You just have to move forward. And I do so see myself with a very bright future," the doppleganger said. Or at least Damon hoped that she was a doppleganger because he did not want to believe that his Elena shared DNA with this psycho.

"Times up," Katherine announced with a gleeful smile as she looked toward the clock which read 2:35 a.m.

There were cries from the lobby of the Sherriff's station and all eyes moved in that direction as Katherine suddenly fell sideways and moved her feet under her arms so that her cuffed hands were in front. And so was the gun that she had taken from Matt. "Right on time," she cried as two women came walking through with their hoods up. One was swinging an axe and the other was holding a gun in one hand and a knife in the other.

"I don't why you ever doubted us?" the woman with the gun replied as she looked around and spotted Elijah. "There you are, little brother," she said, and pushed her hood down and came to look down at him. "I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time."

Damon thought "I am so sorry, Stefan. I hope that you'll get out of this alive."

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter because there are still many more to come.**

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Answer to guest review:**

 **HalfmylifeDE: Thank you. I know. Poor Rebekah… We will have to wait and see if Kai is dead or not. There are a lot of Delena moments in this chapter.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, my lovely readers. It's time for Klaus' side of the story. On with the show…**

Chapter 6: Doctor's Orders

Klaus Mikaelson hadn't thought too much about the warnings about some lunatic that wanted to harm the males of Mystic Falls. Caroline had mentioned it in passing because her friend Elena was obsessed with it. So he hadn't given it much thought when he went to The Falls. He had a major project in mind and was hoping to win a scholarship so that he could study abroad in Paris. Whitmore was an okay school but it was not enough. He needed a broader canvas. He also wanted to take Caroline with him. A few nights and she would stop with this jealousy nonsense.

When he arrived the parking lot was packed but Caroline was not there. Neither were her friends, Bonnie and Elena. He had taken the time to greet his sister and her friend, Hayley but after Caroline had accused him of being attracted to the brunette because he made a passing remark about her legs he had decided to keep his distance. It had been harmless. He was an artist and appreciated the human body. That was all. She would need to understand if they were to spend the rest of their lives together.

Wandering through the woods, he had not suspected that there was anything off. It was a nice night. The moon was full and he wished he had brought a canvas with him. Walking back out to the parking lot, he decided to wait for Caroline but Damon and Stefan showed up. He walked with them to get another drink. After a time he wandered off into the woods again. He was tipsy and bored and he just wanted to be with Caroline.

Leaning against a tree trunk, he thought he heard his name. Turning he caught sight of a girl who was waving to him. Seeing her long, curly blonde hair but not much else because he had drunk too much, he gave chase. If Caroline wanted to frolic in the woods, who was he to argue. He would follow her to the ends of the earth, if that was her wish.

Running after the girl, Klaus found himself in the middle of a clearing and he didn't see his prey anywhere. "Caroline?" he called, turning around and peering between the trees.

"Over here," the girl called and in the back of Klaus' mind he registered that that was not Caroline's voice. However, his brain was moving more slowly than his body. When he saw a hand wave, his body moved in that direction. "Come on, Klaus. Come here, boy," the languid voice called. For a moment he thought of his mother for some reason. The cadence of the voice was so familiar. And yet not at all.

When the girl came out from the trees, she was holding a knife in her right hand and she was smiling widely. "Aw, that is a very good boy. Now, come to your big sister. I want to talk to you."

Klaus opened his mouth to scream but he couldn't seem to get anything out. He turned to run but then he felt the knife pressing against his back. "If I stab you, right here, then you will never walk again. Do you want that?"

Shaking his head, Klaus closed his eyes. He didn't want to die. He hadn't been able to tell Caroline that he loved her yet. Every time he tried; the words did not sound right. He wanted it to be perfect. "Please, don't kill me," he uttered and he hated that he was begging. Klaus had always been proud, like his father.

"Don't worry. You're not going to die just yet. A friend of mine wants to play with you first. And we have plenty of time," the girl who claimed to be his sister cooed into his ear as she stroked the side of his face.

Feeling a needle pierce his neck, Klaus cried out and then the world was spinning so very quickly. Feeling the energy draining right out of him, he looked up at the blonde who smiled down at him, stroking his cheek. "You are a handsome one. Our parents must be so pleased with themselves. So many pretty children with so much talent and smarts. Oh, my. It's too bad that they decided to give me up. Otherwise they would have so many blessings that the gods would fear they had been given too much and would take it all away."

"What are you doing?" a voice shouted and the crazed girl looked up to see Oliver Kenner.

Klaus opened his mouth to warn Oliver to run but he couldn't seem to force his mouth to work. Oliver was moving closer to them. When the younger man or boy depending on who you were asking, saw the knife he began to back up. He didn't get very far before another girl appeared.

"Look what we have here," she said with a delight. "Looks like you found yourself someone you can kill. You want him, or do you want to share?"

"This one is mine," Klaus' sister said with a grin. Oliver tried to run but the other girl tripped him.

"Oops," she said before she kicked him back down the slight incline so that he rolled into Klaus. The second girl disappeared, whistling to herself as Klaus' sister, or the crazy person or whatever, dropped down on top of Oliver. She straddled the terrified boy who could only seem to stare at her as she ran her knife over his lower bits.

"Please," Oliver moaned as he looked down. Klaus was sure he was about to piss his pants. "Please," he begged.

"Alright," she said. Pressing a light kiss to his lips, she pulled away before stabbing downward and then cutting in a slow circle. She worked slowly as Oliver gagged on blood pouring out of the side of his mouth. He let out a gasping wheeze when she reached inside his chest cavity and ripped his beating heart out of his chest. "The Aztecs used to remove the hearts as a sacrifice to their gods. I'm going to leave this one in case there are any gods that might like it."

Wiping her bloodied hands on her pants, the sister that Klaus wished he did not know, yanked him from the forest floor and pulled him along. She dragged him straight through the parking lot and no one so much as looked their way as she loaded him into the passenger seat of an unfamiliar vehicle. Klaus wondered where in the hell she was taking him but he couldn't move his mouth to ask her.

"Oh, look, there's Father," the girl said, she actually smiled as Klaus turned his head to see his father drive right past them. He wished he could pound on the glass and scream for his father to stop and help him.

"Don't worry. I'm coming back to say hello. I hope I don't take too long dropping you off," she said conversationally. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Freya. I'm sure you don't remember me. I was born before you were even considered. Our aunt raised me and that is the short version. Depending on whether you're still alive later tonight I'll tell you the long version."

Klaus closed his eyes; he was so very tired. The next thing he knew he was being wheeled into an elevator. Looking around himself, he wondered where he was and where Freya was. He was beginning to regain control of his body but that did not matter because he was strapped to this infernal chair. "What in the bloody hell?" he fumed.

"Ah, you're awake. I was worried that you had been given too much," a cheerful voice cried and he turned his head to see Cami O'Connell smiling down at him cheerfully.

"Cami, what are you doing here?" Klaus demanded.

"I had to come. We don't let escaped patients just wander the country side, now do we?" she patted him on the shoulder and Klaus stared at her grimly as the doors opened. He was pushed onto a floor where a nurse greeted Cami as Dr. O'Connell and she pushed him through a set of double doors.

"You're going to have your own room and we can have a long overdue chat," Cami told Klaus. "But I need you to take these pills for me first." She withdrew a bottle and poured out two into her palm. Loosening his restraints, she watched him pull one hand out and take the pills. When he placed them in his mouth, he sat and stared at her. "Need some water?" she asked and he nodded.

Waiting, Klaus watched her turn her back and he spat out the pills, placing them beneath his left leg. Taking the glass of water, he drained it and then opened his mouth. "Good. That's very good. Now, you're going to need to rest before we talk. So, I'm going to take the other restraint off and have an orderly come in and help you into bed."

Klaus nodded, his eyelids drooping. When the large man came into the room, Klaus waited for him to help him to bed. "Thank you," he whispered.

"You're wel-" the man was never able to finish the sentence because Klaus forced the pills into his open mouth. Leaping onto his back, Klaus held his mouth and nose shut until the man swallowed the pills in his effort to breathe. Dropping back down, Klaus continued to run from the man until he stumbled and then fell to the floor. "Sweet dreams," Klaus whispered before he stripped the man and dressed himself. Leaving the room, he ran down the hall and around a corner. He left the floor with his head ducked and entered the stairwell. Coming out on the sixth floor. He was looking for somewhere to hide when he saw Cami, he jerked a door open. "Klaus," Caroline greeted him with huge eyes.

"Shush," Klaus slapped his hand over her mouth. One part of him was delighted to see her while another was terrified. Seeing Hayley, he signaled for her to keep her mouth shut, too. Soon they were leaving and he noted doctors in the hallway. Shoving Caroline and then Hayley around the corner, he only turned away when Cami came back down.

When they were free to leave, they ran. Feeling Caroline fall on top of him and then Hayley, he noticed the blood and shook his head when Hayley mentioned it as Caroline fled for the fifth floor exit. Klaus was right behind her but then she turned to find that Hayley wasn't with them. The next thing Klaus knew was that Caroline was trying to kill his brother. Then Cami was back and then she was out. Running. They were all running here and there and then they were being escorted out of an elevator. Everything was happening far too quickly for Klaus' taste.

All that Klaus knew was that he was with Caroline and now he wasn't. "Where are you taking her?" he yelled as two orderlies escorted him to an elevator.

"That's not your concern, Mr. O'Connell," one of the two men that had ahold of him replied with a smirk.

"What? My name is Klaus Mikaelson," he shouted at them.

"Yeah. And I'm Donald Trump, you sick freak. I heard what you did in that church in New Orleans. You're just a sicko who gets his kicks by hurting innocent people," the orderly grunted. "But you're lucky because your sister is a doc and she's going to take care of your ass. If it were me, you'd be frying."

"I'm not who you think I am," Klaus growled when they exited the doors and he was forced back into the room he had escaped. "Just tell me where you're taking Caroline."

"Who's Caroline?" the other orderly asked.

"Caroline Forbes. The girl I was with," Klaus yelled at them.

"You mean Eve Sinclair. Man, you really are twisted running around with a notorious kid killer. Yeah, you'd be a match made in hell," the first orderly told him as he grabbed a syringe and shoved it into Klaus' arm and he wasn't gentle about it.

Klaus could hear the man's laughter as he sunk into darkness. Hours later, Klaus woke to the sound of Cami's voice. "Hi, Klaus. I'm sorry about the orderly. Just between you and me, I took care of him for you. No one is going to hurt you as long as you're in my care."

Struggling to respond, Klaus took a sip from the glass of water she offered him. "Does that include my demented sister?" he asked.

"Rebekah?" Cami asked with a smile, fluffing the pillows behind his head.

"No, the other one," Klaus replied, watching her face.

Cami's smile dropped. "Freya is still trying to learn to adjust. After killing your aunt… In time, I'm sure she'll be fine. And she'll be so happy when we get home. Just the three of us. I already have a little house picked out -"

"What?" Klaus looked at Cami with disgust. "You're trying to kill me and you think I want to live with you? You're mad."

"Technically speaking, Klaus, you're the one who is mad. In both senses of the word. But I'm going to fix you. And we'll be happy. Once Caroline is locked away somewhere where no one will ever find her and your brothers are all gone. And Rebekah. She never liked me, we'll be happy." Cami was still talking when another blonde appeared behind her.

"I don't know. My magic ball is telling me that the future is uncertain. For you." Klaus watched as Cami slumped to the ground. "Don't know where you got that one from, but I would ask for my money back," Liv Parker remarked to Klaus as she unfastened his restraints.

"Liv? Where's Caroline?" Klaus asked as Liv shook her head.

"Don't know. We need to go, like yesterday," the blonde uttered while helping Klaus to sit up. "Here, I've got some clothes for you." She held out a t-shirt and pair of jeans.

Klaus offered her a weak smile. His primary concerns were Caroline and his siblings, except for his newest sibling. She, he could do without ever seeing again. "Thank you," Klaus said, yanking on his jeans. "How did you know I was here, anyway?"

"Long story. We don't have time," Liv replied, grabbing his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders when he nearly fell to the floor. "Tyler," she whispered loudly. Tyler popped his head inside the room. He was dressed as an orderly and Klaus looked back at Liv. This was the first time he noticed that she had removed Cami's lab coat and put on a pair of glasses.

"The coast is clear," Tyler said. "Good thing it's so late," he told them. Klaus wondered how late it was. There were no windows on this floor so he couldn't see if the sun was coming up.

Liv walked on Klaus' left side while Tyler stayed on his right as they placed him in a wheelchair. He hoped that they weren't caught again. Exiting the room, they hurried down the hallway and through the double doors. Klaus hoped to never see this place again. Liv hit the elevator button and she tapped her foot as she waited for the doors to open.

When they got inside they were alone, thankfully. Liv slid a key card through a tiny box and was able to hit the button for the fourth floor. "Here we go," she said.

Taking off the orderly's scrubs, Tyler tossed them into a corner of the elevator as they got off; he took the lab coat that Liv offered him while she took the glasses off and pocketed them. Tyler wheeled Klaus off to the side. Looking up at Tyler, Klaus started to ask what they were waiting for when Liv came out a minute later with Stefan, who was also in a wheelchair. "Go," Liv ordered Tyler who hit the elevator button.

"They found you. Where's Caroline?" Stefan asked and Klaus shook his head when he looked up at Liv whose eyes had misted over while she bit her lower lip.

"You alright, love?" Klaus asked the blonde who shook her head.

"My brother, Kai's in a coma. He was shot in the head. They're not sure he's going to make it and I'm scared to leave him here but we can't stay," Liv said in a rush as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Seconds later the elevator doors opened and they were moving through the lobby as quickly as possible. Moving out through the double doors, Klaus felt relieved when he saw Bonnie Bennett sitting behind the wheel of their get-away car. But it was the person in the passenger's seat that made his heart sore with relief. "Kol!" Klaus cried.

"Nik!" Kol got out of the car and hugged his brother before he helped Tyler help Klaus into the back of the car. "What happened to you?"

"Crazy doctor," Klaus replied with a grin before he saw the bandage around Kol's arm. "And you?"

"Crazy home invader. Not our home though. Not as far as I know. Have you been able to call Elijah or Bekah? I've been trying but they're not answering. Or at least not in the last three hours." Kol was saying. Removing his phone, he began to dial a number. "Yes, Rebekah's still going straight to voicemail. And Father is dead," he noted.

Klaus' eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean that Father is dead?"

"We saw him on the way here," Bonnie told Klaus as gently as she could.

Staring at the sun that was beginning to rise, Klaus felt tears form behind his eyelids. "Can I borrow your phone? I'm going to try to see if I can get ahold of Damon. He almost always answers unless he's having sex with Elena," Stefan said and everyone just sat for a long moment before they started to laugh hysterically.

Staring at Stefan, Klaus waited to see if he got an answer as Bonnie drove away from the hospital. "Damon's phone," a voice answered with a laugh.

"Ummm… Can I speak to him?" Stefan asked, looking at the others.

"Sure," the voice said.

"Stefan, stay away from me," Damon growled out. Stefan frowned while Klaus grabbed the phone.

"Where the bloody hell are you?" Klaus yelled into the phone.

"Good to know you're still in the game, Klaus. I was worried that someone had already taken you out. We're at The Grill. Bring friends. I did. And I'm making new ones with Elijah here. We're having a little Halloween party." Freya said smoothly while the other voice chuckled.

Shaking his head, Klaus looked out the window. "I need to find Caroline," he muttered. First, he had to save his big brother. He just hoped that Caroline could hold on and fight like she always did.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Answer to guest review:**

 **halfmylifeDE: You're welcome. I love Delena and miss them so much! Some of the reasons of these sinister ladies will coming out in the nest chapter.**

 **Peace,**

 **J**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, my lovely readers. It's time for another hair-raising side of this Halloween tale. On with the show…**

Chapter 7: Party Like It's Your Last Night to Live

Hayley Marshall had been looking forward to the party at The Falls. Since she came back to Mystic Falls things had seemed pretty boring and low key. Even Rebekah hadn't been able to bring a little life to their time there. All Hayley wanted to do was get back to New Orleans as soon as they made sure this hoax really was a hoax. She was certain that some kid had just gotten way too into the Halloween spirit and wanted to scared the shit out of a bunch of people.

Rebekah had driven them to The Falls and Hayley got out of the passenger side of the car. "Are you ready to party like it's your last night to live?" Hayley had joked as she looked back at Jackson and Oliver who had tagged along. She had missed these guys since she left for school. Jack wasn't one for college and Ollie was a senior at Mystic Falls High.

"Yes!" Oliver cheered. "Bring on the beer and the ladies!"

"He's such an animal," Jackson had muttered with a grin as his brother took off to drink himself into a stupor.

"Yes, he is that," Rebekah said with a shake of her head as she looked around the party with a raised eyebrow.

"Snob," Jackson teased.

"Humph," Rebekah sighed, looking for someone else to talk to.

Hayley grinned. It wasn't a secret to her that Jackson had a little crush on Rebekah even though Rebekah wouldn't give him the time of day. "Look, there's your brother," she pointed at Klaus who was making his way toward them.

"Which one?" Rebekah asked before she spotted Klaus. "Nik," she greeted him warmly.

"Bekah, have you seen Caroline?" Klaus asked and Hayley snickered. He gave her a look, then turned to Rebekah who was shaking her head. "Enjoy the party," he said curtly and then walked off.

"How rude," Rebekah muttered.

"Yes, he is, Mrs. Peacock," Hayley teased her friend, linking arms with her and getting in line to get a drink.

At some point Rebekah wandered off with Stefan, leaving Hayley with Jackson. She was trying to enjoy the party but it was still as boring as watching paint dry. When the cry of the countdown to All Halo's Eve began, she pumped her fist in the air and swallowed the remnants of the beer in her cup.

"Where's Oliver?" Jackson wondered aloud and Hayley looked around. She hadn't seen him in at least half an hour. Or maybe that was the booze talking.

"I'll go look for him. You stay put," Hayley replied, giving Jackson her cup and taking advantage of the excuse to go. Tripping along the dirt and scuffing her boots, she looked around until she saw something in a little clearing that looked like Oliver's boot. "Ollie, Jack's looking for you," she called. She was more than a little tipsy so it didn't register that he shouldn't be sleeping out here.

Moving down the incline, Hayley cocked her head to the side, gnawing on her lower lip as she got closer, she noticed a hole in Oliver's chest. "Jack-SON!" she began to scream. She could not seem to stop screaming. Then everything was happening so fast. First Jack was there, and then it felt like everyone was there. Except Rebekah. Where was Rebekah?

Hayley blinked at the people unsure of who was who and there was a ringing in her ears as Elijah came into to focus. He was holding her for some reason. She couldn't remember what she had seen.

It felt like minutes passed before she was getting into the back of a car with Jack. 'Where was Elijah?' she wondered as someone drove them away. Then they were turning around. When she saw Elijah trying to get through the parking lot, she opened the door. He needed to come with them. Someone was yelling at her to shut the door but she wasn't listening as Elijah jumped into the car. She closed the door they were driving along again as she slid her hand into Elijah's.

Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the feel of the upholstery until Elijah said something about his dad. He was getting out and moving toward a parked car. Getting out, she followed him. That wasn't right. A man's head was supposed to be on his shoulders, not beside him,' she thought, grimacing while tugging on Elijah. "Help!" Hayley cried, trying to get Elijah back to the car. It wasn't safe out here.

By the time they got to the hospital, Hayley was sure she was going crazy by the time that she left the group in search of drugs. She wasn't sure why Caroline insisted on coming with her. Something about having promised Elijah something back at the party. Then they found Klaus or Klaus found them. He looked as bad as she felt but for once she didn't tell him that as they ran around the stairwell. All she wanted was to feel numb.

By the time that Elijah grabbed her elbow in the stairwell, she was so very confused by everything. Elijah was talking to her and she was talking back but she wasn't sure what the words meant. Blinking, she saw Caroline try to hit Elijah with a fire extinguisher. Klaus stopped her. Then there was a crazy doctor. "Take that, bitch!" Hayley thought as she inserted the needle.

Everything moved so fast that she couldn't keep up until they were in the Sheriff's station and Hayley realized that she been on autopilot until this Katherine person showed up. Ever since she announced that she had killed Jackson or one of her friends had killed Jackson. The borders around her consciousness began to clear up, and she was living in High Def. now. Tugging at her restraints, she tried to get at the girl who was grinning back at her.

'I will kill you,' Hayley promised her silently. Katherine was no longer paying any attention to her as she moved on to taunt Elena, who she claimed to be related to, and Damon. That was fine by Hayley. That way she wouldn't notice her until Hayley was sliding the knife between her ribs.

"Time's up," Katherine announced suddenly as two other girls appeared, both armed. Yeah, that might make it harder for Hayley to get to Katherine, but not impossible, unless they killed her. Then it wouldn't matter anymore. She would be at peace with her friends. Or they could start a band, called the Ungrateful Dead, and haunt these three bitches for the rest of their unnatural lives.

Shots rang out as the one with the gun aimed and fired, killing the deputy that wasn't Matt. She also shot the other two men that had been working that night. The one with the axe cut their heads off to make sure they were dead. The tall, blonde shot Matt in the ankle so that he couldn't get far before the three killers set their sights on those who were still handcuffed.

"I've waited a long time for this meeting," the blonde crazy was telling Elijah who was staring at her with a look of uncertainty.

" _Who_ are you?" Elijah asked as Blondie cut Katherine's handcuffs in two.

"Isn't that obvious?" Katherine asked, coming to lean over Elijah with a grin that made Hayley's stomach twist. "She's your sister. Don't you recognize the family resemblance?"

"No," Elijah replied flatly as he examined Blondie who frowned.

"It's been a long time. You were still growing inside our mother's womb. Another little gift from the Gods," Blondie intoned as she smiled down at him.

"Someone's a _little_ loopy," Damon muttered and Elena gave him a look before kicking him in the shin. "Ouch."

Blondie's eyes flicked to the couple. "She does look exactly like you. How remarkable," she said as she came to stand over Elena who refused to look back at her. "I think I can fix that." Everyone's eyes moved over to the blonde who lifted her knife and drew the tip over Elena's right cheek, making Elena hiss in pain. "Stay still or it won't be right. Then I'll have to do the other one."

" _What_ are you doing?" Damon yelled.

"Marking her for the Gods to know her from the other," the blonde uttered as she finished her work. Elena was crying silently while blood poured down her cheek.

"BE careful with that one. She's _mine_ ," the black haired woman scolded the blonde.

"Excuse me, Tessa, but since she is _my_ twin, I do believe _I_ have dibs," Katherine commented with a sneer at Tessa who glared back.

"She stole what is _mine_. I want her to die with him. That is the only way I can pay you back, Amara," Tessa growled and Hayley wondered which asylum these three had escaped from.

"Ignore her. She has no conception of reality," Katherine warned Elena who was shaking.

"Who the hell is Amara?" Damon shouted at the three.

"This is _boring_ ," the blonde moaned, clutching her head. She had her eyes tightly shut and when she opened them again, she was smiling. "Let's go out and have some fun," she suggested. "Where do young people go to have fun?" she asked Matt who was sitting on the floor after she had shot him in the ankle.

Matt looked up at her, his mouth twisting downward. "I'm not telling you _anything_ ," he snapped at her.

The blonde smiled. "That is _very_ rude of you. Try again," she ordered, cocking the gun and aiming at his head.

"The Grill!" Damon shouted at her.

"And what do they do at The Grill?" Tessa asked with a look of curiosity.

"Eat, drink, play pool," Hayley told them slowly, her gaze focused on Katherine who was sitting in Elijah's lap, running her fingers through his hair.

"Is that _it_?" the blonde looked disappointed. "In the movies young people dance and sing karaoke."

"You could if you wanted to," Damon said quickly. "Just break in and have a blast."

The blonde tipped her head to the side. "Do you dance?" she asked him and Damon's swallowed.

"Yeah. I do," he replied.

"Good. You'll be doing a lot of dancing tonight. We haven't been able to have much fun and we want to really live tonight like it's our last," she murmured, placing her hand to the side of her head and shaking it back and forth before she motioned to Matt. "You, get up."

Matt forced himself to his feet. "We're going for a little ride," the blonde announced. "And you are going to drive."

"There isn't enough room in the back of one of the cars," Matt protested.

"We can if we squeeze in. And I can sit on someone's lap," Katherine volunteered, eyeing Elijah who turned his head away from her until she placed Matt's gun under his chin. Now, she had his full and undivided attention.

"Whatever," Matt muttered as he leaned against a desk.

Tessa smiled or at least her mouth moved into what would have to pass for one as she looked at the others. "Okay, kids. Who wants to go first?" they all stared at her as she hefted the axe.

Katherine rolled her eyes before she grabbed Elijah's handcuffed wrist and placed the chain over the chair arm. With one clean swing, Tessa cut the metal and Elijah was free to move. But he had to wait for Katherine to let him up. Hayley was the last to be freed and the last out the front door of the police station. That is probably why she was the one who spotted Rebekah, sitting in a corner with a shot gun. Her friend held her finger to her lips as she motioned for Hayley to leave the station.

Feeling a little better because she knew that Rebekah would have a plan and she would follow them, even if she had to steal a car to do it, Hayley got into the back of Matt's patrol car. Sitting down next to Elijah, she grimaced at the sight of Katherine straddling him. Tessa was beside her partner-in-crime and beside her were Damon and Elena, with Elena in Damon's lap. The blonde was in front with Matt, keeping an eye on him and whatever was going on in the back.

"You know, I really did miss you, Elijah," Katherine was saying as she pressed her body closer to his. Hayley wanted to unroll the window so that she could vomit but she was afraid that Katherine would shoot her and she couldn't kill the other girl if she were dead.

"Yes. I'm sure you did," Elijah replied sarcastically.

"How do you two know each other?" Damon questioned them, his gaze focused on Elijah and Hayley turned to glare at Elijah.

"We met when I was locked up in Mystic Falls' version of a mental facility. Thanks to our sweet parents," Katherine intoned, glancing at Elena. "Elijah was working on a minor in psych and thinking about going for a degree. So he decided to take a little trip to my home-away-from-home where he met me. At first it was just supposed to be a one-time thing. Go see what it was like for the inmates. Then he decided to write a paper. Didn't you, Elijah?" Katherine teased, running her lips over his before she continued. "And he got a big red A+ for it. What did I _get_? Thinking that someone on the outside actually cared about me. But he didn't because once the paper was done, so were we. I didn't know why until I got out and found his letters. They were all tucked under his bed, never read. How sad. And his texts, never sent. Even more pathetic because he can't just go after what he wants. But I can, _can't_ I?"

"Katherine," Elijah began and Katherine smirked at him. "Its okay, Elijah. I understand. We all have needs, wants, desires. Maybe you'll get everything you want from her before I shoot her."

Hayley's eyes widened when Katherine moved the gun and shoved it under her chin. "Shit," she muttered as the blonde began to talk to someone on a cell. She had no idea what was going on because Katherine was about to blow her head off. The trigger was pulled and… nothing. Katherine laughed as Hayley looked back at her. "Sorry. Need to reload."

Dropping the gun in Tessa's lap, Katherine reached under her shirt and withdrew a switchblade. Placing that to Hayley's throat, Katherine leaned forward and kissed her, making Hayley's stomach lurch again. Elijah let out a cry of anger when Katherine bit Hayley's bottom lip until she drew blood. "Not so bad," Katherine muttered, licking her lips. "Maybe we'll have a threesome. It's on my bucket list."

"You're disgusting," Damon told Katherine who rolled her eyes.

"Oh, _really_? You're one to talk. You think that I don't know about you and this one's little, blonde friend. I saw you out in the woods that night," Katherine said with a grin. "I could have made money off that video."

" _Damon_?" Elena looked horrified.

"Elena, she's _lying_. I swear to God. I would _never_ cheat on you," Damon whispered, pulling Elena's face close to his.

"Isn't that sweet?" Katherine rolled her eyes and gagged as she looked back at Elijah and Hayley. "They're boring. I think I'll let Tessa play with them. But you two, you're all _mine_."

Hayley couldn't take it anymore and leaned over, vomiting onto the floor of the police cruiser while several of her fellow passengers let out groans of disgust. "Want to make some more?" Hayley questioned Katherine, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'm sure we can scrounge up a toothbrush for you," Katherine retorted. "Until then I guess I'll just have to take my satisfaction from our boyfriend," she said, grinding against Elijah.

Shaking her head, Hayley forced a smile. "You know, I don't know why you keep implying that there's something going on between me and Elijah. We barely know each other. And besides, isn't it obvious that he's still in love with you?" she asked Katherine in as serious a tone as she could manage.

"Really? You think so?" Katherine pouted, pressing her cheek to Elijah's.

"Yeah. I think you two would make a great couple," Hayley nodded, catching Elijah's eye.

"Katherine, Hayley is right. I could never forget the limited time that we spent together. I've waited for you for so long. Why do you think that I kept those letters for so long? Because I could not bear to part with your memory," Elijah's words rang true and Hayley hoped that Katherine was buying this load of bull.

"Oh, Elijah, that would be so sweet if were true. But I'm not an idiot. And by the end of the day you're going to watch me kill your new girlfriend," Katherine said, grabbing Hayley by the hair and back handing her.

"Hey!" Elijah yelled but he stopped when his sister turned around and pointed her weapon at his head.

"See! You're just too easy, Elijah. You always show how you feel in the end," Katherine shook her head with a fake frown.

The car stopped and Matt got out with the Mikaelson sister following him around to the back of the car. Matt opened the back door and Damon got out, followed by Elena, Katherine, Elijah and Hayley. Tessa came to stand behind Hayley pushing her toward the front doors to the Mystic Grille with the handle of the axe. What she would do to be able to turn around and rip the thing out of her hands.

"What shall we do first?" the Mikaelson sister asked them with a smile.

"Sing!" Katherine suggested. "I'll go first with my back up. She grabbed Elena and Hayley by the hands. "Which song should we sing?"

"How about I'm a Crazy Bitch?" Hayley suggested with a sneer.

"How 'bout, I'm going to enjoy ripping you heart out of your chest? Now tell me a damned song before I get bored with you," Katherine snarled.

Elena jumped in. "Let's sing 'I'll Survive.' It's a classic and almost everyone knows the lyrics," she said slowly.

There was a pause before Katherine grinned. "For once you had something to say that didn't make me want to tear your guts out. Good on, you, sis. Maybe I'll leave you for last. Probably not. But you're growing on me."

Hayley took the stage behind Katherine and stood beside Elena while Katherine took her position at center stage. "Dance with me!" the Mikaelson sister demanded and Damon was forced to get up and dance to Katherine's song while Elena glared down at the two.

Hayley watched Elijah stare up at her. She wanted to tell him to stop it. All he was going to do was attract Katherine's attention when Katherine suddenly stopped singing and turned around to look at Hayley. "I'm going to make an exception to our only killing boys this holiday and start with you," she stated and then raised the gun.

"Stop!" Elijah shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Why?" Katherine demanded. "What can you do for me that will make me stop?"

"I'll…" Elijah looked at a loss for words.

"Bet she hasn't had sex in a long time," Damon commented, earning him a glare from Elena.

"No. I haven't," Katherine smiled. Looking down at Elijah, "How about you and I change that? Right here and right now?"

Elijah's eyes moved to Hayley and she nodded at him, gulping. "Yes. Of course," he said and Katherine hopped down and walked across the room, taking him by the hand and leading him back toward the office. Hayley felt tears running down her cheeks but refused to think about what Elijah was doing to save their lives.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, my lovely readers. It's that time again. Time for more thrills and chills. On with the show…**

 **Warning: Possible character death…**

Chapter 8: Things I Wish I Hadn't Done

Stefan Salvatore felt happy. Tonight was going to be a big night. Tonight he was going to tell Rebekah Mikaelson how he felt about her. Yes, she had a boyfriend, and had a thing for his brother, but tonight, all of that was going to change. He had a plan. Stefan would take Rebekah aside and show her how much more charming and funny he could be than other guys she knew. Who cares that there might be a serial killer on the loose tonight. Stefan didn't really believe the urban legend anyway.

Poking his head into his older brother's room, he caught Damon typing away on his phone, oblivious to the world. Stefan rolled his eyes. He figured that Damon was sending some sappy text to Elena. Man, his brother needed to stop acting like an old married dude. "Damon, there's going to be a party at The Falls and we have to go!" he cried to his older brother who looked up at him and rolled his eyes.

It took some convincing. Of course, Stefan knew the best way to get Damon to do anything would be to take something he cared about. In this instance, it was his car keys. Damon loved that car like it lived and breathed. Running down the stairs of their home, Stefan felt like the night held a million possibilities. He heard Damon chasing after him as he flung the front door open. "Maybe you'll get lucky and the Halloween Serial Killer will get me!" he joked. He ignored Damon's retort before opening the passenger side door and hopping inside.

Throwing the keys to Damon, Stefan smiled when his brother got in. He knew that Damon wanted to go to the party as much as he did. The Salvatore brothers did not hide under their beds when there was a party raging on the other side of town. Besides, Stefan figured that in spite of all of her moaning and groaning and warning everyone, Elena went to the party. Therefore, Damon should be there.

Stefan turned on the radio and flipped the switch until he found an old Bon Jovi song playing. "It's my life," he sang.

"My heart is like an open highway. I should have done it my way." Damon sang along with Stefan, earning a grin from the younger brother. It felt great. Just the two of them, on the road. No worries. Their whole lives ahead of them.

Soon they got to the party and ran into Klaus Mikaelson. This gave Stefan the perfect opportunity to slip away when he spotted Klaus' younger sister. "Rebekah!" he called, grabbing her from behind and causing her to shriek.

"Stefan bloody Salvatore!" Rebekah yelled, slapping him on the shoulder with a laugh. "How the hell are you?" she asked him loudly enough for him to be able to hear her over all of the shouting.

" _Good_. I'm good. How are you?" Stefan replied, grinning at her. "And you, you look _very_ good," he looked her over while Rebekah smirked back at him.

"What a high compliment," Rebekah replied with a smirk. "What are you? A junior in high school now?

"Senior. I'm a senior. I'm actually nineteen but I got sick when I was a kid and nearly died so my father held me back from going to school. It's not that much fun being older than most of the kids," Stefan told Rebekah who looked amused. Trying to figure out something to impress her with, Stefan looked around, spotting a keg. "Are you thirsty?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm quite parched," Rebekah told him with a smile.

Stefan grinned. "Well then, I will go get us a cup of whatever is on tap," he walked over to get a cup of beer and ran into Tyler Lockwood who was slightly tipsy.

"Hey, Stefan! What's up? Trying to get in Rebekah's pants tonight under the full moon?" he howled at the moon and then let out a laugh.

"What's _this_ about?" Kol inquired, coming over and throwing an arm around Tyler's shoulder. "Oh, yes, Bekah's being a strumpet, again, I see. You should be careful. Her new boyfriend could split you in half. He plays football and bench presses men twice your size, mate."

Gulping, Stefan forced himself to grin. "What he doesn't know, he can't kill me for," he told the two.

Kol looked at Tyler and then began to laugh. "Cheers to that!" Kol knocked his empty cup against Stefan's and then stumbled off with Tyler.

Returning to Rebekah's side after filling the cup, he handed it to her. "Here, my queen."

Rebekah grinned before taking a long sip. She handed it back to Stefan while looking around at the others. "This party is a bit dull. Wouldn't you say?" she quipped while Stefan took a sip of the beer which was a little flat.

"Yup," Stefan nodded. He gave the cup back to Rebekah. "Why don't we go for a little walk?"

Rebekah's eyebrows shot up. " _Really_? You want to go walking in the woods? I'm not sure my footwear is appropriate for that." She looked down at boots that were more stylish than they were practical.

"It's okay. I won't let you get hurt," Stefan told her, holding out a hand.

Rebekah smiled, taking his hand and allowing him to direct her through the trees. He stopped only a couple of feet inwards before turning to Rebekah. "How's this?" he asked her.

"Better," Rebekah nodded with a smile. "This is much better." She stared at Stefan for a long moment and he figured that if he was going to make a move, now was better than never.

"Rebekah, I _really_ like you. I think I did ever since your family moved to town and I never had the courage to tell you. I wish I had. And now you're here and –" Stefan stopped talking when Rebekah placed her hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and kiss me," she whispered, moving her hand and staring at his lips.

"Okay," Stefan placed his hand on the back of Rebekah's neck and pulled her toward him. Pressing his lips to hers, he smiled. This was way better than what he had expected and he had had pretty high expectations.

"Mm," Rebekah moaned into his mouth while he pulled her against him and then backed her up against a tree, running his hands over her body. If he had to die, let it be now, before life got in the way because he wanted to die a happy man.

Pulling away, Stefan smiled down at Rebekah, pressing his forehead to hers and breathing her in when a scream cut through the night. "Help me! Somebody _help_ me!"

"Let's go see what all the fuss is about," Stefan heard himself say but he didn't want to leave this spot even as his feet moved forward, farther into a woods. The screaming got louder. When they found the source of the noise, Stefan felt the beer moving back upward and he leaned over and vomited. Rebekah said something but he waved her off. Hayley needed her more than he did.

When the nausea quelled, Stefan turned away from the scene and walked as far away as he could get, becoming lost in the woods. "Damn," he muttered under his breath, looking for anything familiar, but all he saw were trees, lots and _lots_ of trees. It wasn't until he felt a something sharp slice through his side that Stefan became aware that he wasn't alone.

The cold, sharp steal moved out from between his ribs and Stefan whirled around to find a young woman in a hoodie with a knife. "Silas!" she growled and Stefan did not have time to disagree when she moved to stab him again. They fell to the ground while he held her wrists, trying to stop her from stabbing him again.

The hooded figure kicked Stefan between the legs and he let go of her wrists, his hands, reflexively, moving downward when she stabbed him, again, in the stomach this time, making him moan in pain. She moved to stab him in the heart when she toppled over with a shriek of fury. "You'll pay for that!"

Rebekah stood over them with a branch and a look of rage. Stefan felt his eyes opening and closing when Damon came running toward him. His eyes still flickered open and closed when Elena, Caroline and Bonnie arrived.

Stefan must have passed out at some point because he woke up again in a hospital bed with a blonde woman checking his vitals. "Hello, Stefan, you were very lucky that your friends found you," the doctor said, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to take good care of you. Now, you take a nap while Dr. O'Connell checks up on your other friends."

"My _other_ friends?" Stefan mumbled, feeling confused while the doctor adjusted the medicine dripping into the tube in his right arm. Closing his eyes, Stefan went back to sleep.

Stefan did not wake until he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. "Stefan!" Damon's voice called to him through the fog and Stefan felt confused. His eyes opened slowly to take in the sight of Damon and Klaus, standing over him with looks of concern.

"Hey, baby brother," Damon said, pressing a hand to Stefan's forehead.

"Hey," Stefan replied. He wondered what was going on and why Klaus was trying to take his blankets off. He felt nice and warm and comfortable. He wanted to ask where Rebekah was but that felt like a million years ago.

"It's time to go," Damon stated and Stefan still felt confused.

"Go where?" Stefan looked from Damon to Klaus who was shoving the bedclothes out of the way and muttering something about the hospital gown that Stefan was wearing. This felt like a dream.

No one bothered to answer Stefan when Klaus and Damon each took one of his arms and threw them around their shoulders. "Come on. Come on," Elijah Mikaelson muttered at the elevator doors. Stefan took in the sight of Hayley Marshall standing beside him with Elena coming to stand beside Damon.

"Are you okay, Stefan?" she asked him and he shrugged. He felt doped up and everything felt cool to him. Although he _really_ wished they would let him go back to bed. He felt so tired.

The elevator doors swung open and the group entered with a collective sigh of relief. Their relief was short-lived when the doors reopened to reveal some unhappy looking security guards, orderlies and Dr. O'Connell. Everyone began to shout when they were taken off of the elevator. Stefan watched as Klaus and Caroline had handcuffs slapped on their wrists and they were taken back onto the elevator. Dr. O'Connell waited with Stefan while Damon and Elena argued with the security guards.

"You can't do this!" Damon shouted.

Stefan wanted to help his brother but he felt so damned tired. "Damon," he muttered.

"Don't worry about him," Dr. O'Connell instructed Stefan when the elevator doors swung back open. "You'll be together again, soon." Something about her words did not make Stefan feel comforted as his brother was led away in handcuffs.

"Stefan!" Damon shouted, trying to get to Stefan when the doors closed.

Back upstairs, Dr. O'Connell and an orderly placed Stefan back in his bed. "Now, rest. We'll talk later," she reassured him.

Later came and went and Stefan slept. He only woke up when he found that someone was placing him in a wheelchair. "What's going on?" he asked the orderly.

"Got your transfer orders. You're going up to Psych," the man replied, strapping Stefan's wrists to the chair.

"What are you talking about? I was _attacked_ in the woods," Stefan protested, trying to free himself from the restraints but he was not able to because he didn't have the strength.

"Look, Silas, my man, I don't give a shit how many people's throats you slit. You know, I'm kind of a fan of Manson's work, but I need this job and, you know, it's the way of the world. So just chill. The drugs aren't so bad and I'll help you hide them," the orderly told Stefan who wondered what kind of hell he was stuck in.

"What time is it?" Stefan asked the orderly.

"Uh. Doesn't matter. It's the same time it always is when you're up on Psych. You'll get used to it before they transfer you over to the county," the orderly told him and Stefan felt like he would vomit again.

"You've got the wrong guy," Stefan protested weakly. He wished he had stayed at home. He and Damon could be watching a marathon of slasher flicks rather than living in a nightmare. How long could this day go on?

"Can I at least make a phone call?" Stefan asked.

The orderly laughed. "This isn't lock-up, man. You've watched too many cop shows. You don't get one phone call when you've been tried and convicted."

Stefan fell back into the wheelchair and watched the elevator doors open and close on his life. They left the elevator, minutes later, to enter a lobby with no one there. The orderly slid a card key through and wheeled Stefan inside.

They walked down the hall and Stefan noticed Klaus laying on a bed. He did not stir when Stefan shouted to him. "Klaus!" Moving onward, Stefan saw Caroline, lying on a bed with a gag in her mouth. There were tears on her cheeks and her skin was red. "Caroline!" Stefan shouted and Caroline jerked, trying to free herself.

"What are you people _doing_ to my friends?" Stefan shouted, feeling angry as he jerked in his chair. He turned just enough to see the man who had been wheeling him and felt sick to his stomach.

"Hello, _Stefan_ ," the orderly greeted him. "Never thought you'd see me again, now did you?"

Honestly, Stefan had been hoping that he would never see Brady, a boy who was three older than him, and who liked to pick on the younger kids when they were little, ever again. "I heard you went to juvie after you set your ex's car on fire," Stefan replied.

"Yeah. I did. And you know, people don't really care who takes care of the mentally ill, as long as they keep them quiet," Brady replied. "And I'm _really_ good at keeping the looneys quiet. Except Katherine. Damn, that girl does not like to be quiet and I have no problem with that."

"You're a sick, _sick_ man," Stefan replied.

"You have _no_ idea," Brady retorted before wheeling him into a room and taking his restraints off. "You try anything, I will rip you a new hole where they sewed you up. Got me?"

"Yeah," Stefan muttered while Brady dropped onto a bed and then strapped him down.

"I'll tell Cami that you're up here," Brady said. Stefan could hear him whistling down the hall.

After a long time of lying on his back, Stefan heard the door open and Dr. O'Connell entered. "Hello, Stefan, good to see you're awake and alert. I'm going to give you something that will help with your healing. Alright?" Tapping a vein, she did not wait for an answer before piercing his skin with a needle.

"Ouch," Stefan hissed. "You're _not_ very good with that," he told her.

"No pain, no gain," Cami said cheerfully before turning to leave.

"You're one of _them_ , aren't you?" Stefan called after her.

"One of _what_?" Dr. O'Connell asked in a bored tone as she turned to look down at Stefan.

"You're one of the _killers_ ," Stefan stated, watching her carefully.

"I guess you could say that I am. But, _really_ , I think of it more as helping you out of your mortal coil. You see, we're all trapped here, on this plane of existence. Or maybe I just hate guys. Who knows?" the doctor let out a laugh. "I'll be back later to check and see how you're feeling."

Lying back, Stefan tried to think of a way out of here but he could not think of anything. It looked like he was trapped until either Dr. O'Connell killed him or Damon found a way out to save his ass.

When the door opened again after what felt like an eternity, Stefan expected to see Dr. O' Connell, Brady, or the woman who thought he was Silas, whoever the hell that was. But he felt shocked to see Olivia Parker making her way around his bedside to release him from his restraints. "Hey!" she greeted him while watching the door. "You okay?" she asked when he could sit up.

"You really want an answer to that?" Stefan quipped while he leaned over to help her free his ankles. Soon she helped him off the bed and placed him in a wheelchair. "Tell me you're with Damon."

"Sorry," Liv shook her head. "Tyler's outside, keeping watch. Tyler and I found Klaus first. They're waiting for us."

"What about _Caroline_?" Stefan asked, remembering seeing her earlier.

"Caroline's up _here_?" Liv's eyes widened. "We didn't see her and we looked all over the place before we found the two of you." Stefan felt sick as they went past the room that Caroline had been in. There was no one there now.

Tyler and Klaus entered the elevator while Liv wheeled Stefan inside. They went downstairs and through the empty lobby. Exiting the building, Stefan had never been so happy to see Bonnie Bennett and Kol Mikaelson in his entire life. He just wished that Damon was with them and Rebekah. Where was Rebekah?

No one gave Stefan the opportunity to ask his question as they bid a hasty retreat from the hospital and Liv and Tyler decided to stay there to keep an eye on Kai. Finally Stefan got to get a word in.

"Can I use your phone?" he asked anyone who had one.

When Stefan got through to Damon, he felt happy that his brother was alive but also scared because it looked like the killers had him and Elena. "Stefan, stay _away_ from me," Damon growled into the phone and Stefan wondered what had gotten into him. When a voice invited them to another party at the Grill, Stefan tried to concentrate even when the dial tone signaled the end of the call. His vision began to blur and he felt his throat constricting.

"Klaus, what's going on back there?" Bonnie called and Stefan wondered what was going on as the lights began to dim.

"Stefan, mate, wake up!" Kol shouted.

"His pulse is fading!" Klaus yelled and Stefan felt someone begin pressing their mouth to his and his chest moving up and down with the pressure of someone else's hands pushing up and down. "Stefan, you're _not_ going to die. Not after all of this. Wake the bloody hell up!"

Stefan tried to open his eyes. He tried to fight, but he wanted to sleep. This day had been too much. He wished Rebekah were there to hold his hand. He wished she would kiss him good night. He wished that he could tell Damon that he loved him, as corny as that sounded. He wished he had never gone to that stupid party. He wished a lot of things as he felt his body slipping away and then nothing at all.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, my lovely readers. We've only got three more chapters of this story, (after this chapter), before the finale on Halloween! Who will die next? On with the show?**

Chapter 9: Never Wake Up

Liv Parker heard that there was some kind of craziness about threats of a serial killer back home. She hadn't put too much thought into it. Hell, nothing bad ever happened in Mystic Falls. Maybe a prep rally hosted by Caroline Forbes while Liv went to hide under the bleachers to share a drink with friends and make fun of the cheerleader. Other than that, nothing much, until now.

Driving from Portland, Oregon to Mystic Falls, Virginia in three days had left Liv wanting her bed. That's why when she showed up, she had greeted her older brother, Kai, with a sneer and smack to the back of the head before going into her childhood room and falling, face down, in bed. She slept from six in the morning till six in the evening. "Hey, Livvie," Kai called, poking his head into her room.

Liv's head moved upward, she glared back at her brother, wiping a line of drool off the side of her mouth. "Ugh. What?" she groaned, wanting to go back to sleep.

"I'm headed out to a party. Want to come?" Kai had inquired, leaning against the doorframe, his long legs crossed at the ankle, his usual smug smirk in place.

"Are you kidding me?" Liv sat straight up, glaring at her brother. "No. You're not going anywhere tonight. I did not drive all this way so that you can go out and get yourself killed!" She got to her feet and then felt the floor moving up to meet her face.

Kai moved so quickly she barely had time to register his arms encircling her, holding her up. "Hey there, sis, maybe you should get some more shut eye," he told her.

Rolling her eyes, Liv gripped his t-shirt in her fists. "You're not going out tonight. We can watch whatever stupid teen flick with Jennifer Love or whatever bimbo who wants to run around in half her clothes, you want to. Just, please, promise me, you won't go out there!" Liv begged Kai. He was all she had. After their twins died in a car wreck three years ago, she had clung to her older brother, when she wasn't trying to kill him.

"Liv, I'll be fine," Kai replied, laughing and pulling his shirt free from her grasp. "You know it's just some grand hoax to keep teens from drinking and engaging in the usual random sexual encounters that will leave this town with more kids running around." He laughed, moving over to check himself out in her mirror. "Man, I look good tonight. Think I'm going to try my chances with Bonnie Bennett. Bet she's going to want some protection from the big, bad thing in the dark, right?"

Sighing, Liv ran a hand through her hair and followed Kai down the hall. "Why don't you invite Bonnie to come here? She's probably right next door. Just go over, knock on the door and invite whoever is over there, over here. We can have our own party," Liv continued in vain, as Kai began to whistle on his way out the door. He walked to the street, stopping to cross his arms over his chest and smirk at her, while she argued with him.

"I'll be fine," Kai said, rolling his eyes before he got into a car with some other guys, probably his friends from college who she had not met yet. "See ya, Liv. Remember to lock the doors!" Kai called, waving good-bye.

Liv let out a frustrated sigh, watching other cars picking up other teens and then turned to head inside her house. It looked like she had a long night ahead of her. She walked into the house and slammed the door behind her. Didn't matter, since she had the whole place to herself. Deciding to give herself a pedicure and take a bath, Liv walked upstairs and lost herself for the next hour. It wasn't until she received a call from Tyler Lockwood that she had even thought about the stupid party at The Falls. She walked over to her window, watching Elena Gilbert and Co. getting ready to leave. Typical.

"Hey, Liv, what are you doing, right now?" Tyler asked, sounding a little drunk.

"Watching some people I can't stand go to a party I have no intention of going to," Liv replied, folding her arms over chest and walking away from the window.

"Oh, yeah, party's totally lame. I'll probably swing by your place later. Cool?" Tyler asked and Liv rolled her eyes. You hook up with a guy, one time, after senior prom and he thinks he owns you.

"Sure," Liv replied with as much sarcasm as she could muster which was not enough for Tyler.

"See ya then," Tyler replied, hanging up.

Liv checked the clock for the one millionth time, hoping that Tyler would show up before she grabbed a hoodie and headed over to the Gilbert's. She knocked on the front door and it took awhile but Jeremy finally answered, with a meat cleaver. Sweet. What had her life come to? "What are you doing with that thing?" Liv wondered what Jer was on when she elbowed past him and into the living room.

"You scared the hell out of me," he snapped and she felt the same way but didn't tell him that. They conversed for several more minutes before the doorbell rang and Liv tensed before running up the stairs. Entering Jer's room, she found a baseball bat and figured that would do.

Running back down the stairs with the baseball bat, she came to stand behind the door. "On the count of five," Jeremy told her. They counted down when someone else spoke up.

"Five," they said and Liv screamed when Jer tried to kill Tyler with the meat cleaver. She almost wished he had for scaring them. Dropping the bat, she threw her arms around Tyler, relieved he was okay. "Thank God, you're okay."

"The back door. It's unlocked," Tyler announced, causing Liv to grab the bat again. Everything else happened so quickly, she could barely keep up.

When they ran out of the house, Liv pulled out her phone, desperately punching buttons, waiting for him to pick up. "Come on. Damn it, Kai. Pick up the damned phone!" she yelled as they climb into Kol's car and he gunned the engine. He finally picked up and she sighed is relief. "Kai, you need to come home. Right now!" she yelled into the phone before they saw the killer getting up and heading toward them. You'd think smacking someone over the head with a baseball bat would stop them for at least five minutes. "Kol, we need to go!" she screamed at Kol.

"I'm trying but the car won't start!" Kol screamed back at her. Trying to get the car to started but it wouldn't move.

"Okay. Plan B. Who else has a car?" Liv asked them and they all look at each other.

"Kol was my ride," Tyler pointed out and Liv rolled her eyes when Elena look-alike tries to attack Jeremy from behind. Liv took the bat she still had with her and smacked the woman in the back of the head, watching her go down, hard this time.

"I have had enough of this bitch!" Liv snarls, shoving her unruly hair behind her ear.

"Me, too!" Jeremy said, watching her closely.

"While she's out, you want to try the car again?" Tyler asked Kol who went ahead and got behind the wheel. The engine starts up and they sigh in relief. "What do we do with her?" he asked, looking at the girl who had tried to kill them, mere minutes ago.

"We can take her to the Sheriff's station," Jeremy suggested.

"Great plan, mate. Load her in the trunk," Kol told them. Jeremy and Tyler, tossed her in the trunk and then they got inside the car. It didn't take long before they were in front of the building and Liv called Kai again, getting out and walking away a couple of feet. This time the call went to voicemail. She cursed her brother but left a message anyway to let him know what they were up to in case he went home.

Turning around, her eyes rounded when she saw the girl who looked like Elena, with another knife, where did she hide it? she wonders when the knife sliced through Kol's arm, making him yell in pain. Jeremy hauled off and punched the woman in the side of the head. She dropped to the ground and Tyler kicked her knife away.

"I don't like hitting women but I also don't like them trying to kill me and my friends," Jeremy said, grabbing the woman and dragging her into the building.

Liv got behind the wheel, peeling her hoodie off and handing it to Tyler who got into the backseat with Kol. She glanced in the rearview mirror to see Ty wrapping the hoodie around Kol's wound before she starts the car. They needed to get to the hospital and soon. Her thoughts were a mess when they arrived at the hospital and she helped Tyler with Kol, walking into the ER.

Liv felt relieved that they were in the hospital until she came across Bonnie Bennett who looked pale and scared. Their eyes met and Bonnie started to cry. This made Liv's heart begin to pound. She all but forgot about Kol on her way to Bonnie's side. "Bonnie, what's wrong?" she demanded, staring at the older girl.

"Kai. It's Kai. He was… He was…" Bonnie started to sob while Liv felt the world spinning. No. She could not lose another sibling. Not tonight.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, coming over to Liv's side, keeping her from falling on the floor. She felt so damned tired. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and to pretend this whole nightmare never actually happened.

"I was driving and found Rebekah, running away from one of the killers. We drove to Jeremy's but he wasn't home. Kai came over, looking for you," she looked at Liv before sucking in a deep breath, trying to calm down. "When we were driving away, someone shot at the car… and… and," she started to sob again.

"They shot Kai," Liv ended dully, shaking her head, feeling her eyes fill with tears.

"He's in surgery. They don't know if he'll be okay or not," Bonnie said quietly, trembling. "Rebekah's who knows where as are Elena, Damon and a ton of our friends. I don't know where most of our friends are," she moaned.

"I'm over here, love," Kol called to Bonnie who went over to him. They started to talk when a nurse took him away to look at his wound.

"I have to check on my brother," Liv said, hurrying over to the elevators. Tyler came with her and she spoke to a nurse who told her that the doctor would be with her shortly. In the meantime, Tyler grabbed them coffees and they waited. When a blonde doctor walked by and then started talking to an orderly about some new patients on the psych ward, Liv did not pay attention.

"That was weird," Tyler whispered to Liv.

"What was weird?" she asked absently, sipping her drink.

"I think they were talking about Klaus Mikaelson," Tyler told her. Liv felt confused. "Let's follow them," Tyler suggested. Liv wanted to wait to see if the doctor would come out with news on Kai but decided to follow Tyler. They went upstairs and found they could not get onto the psych ward without a keycard.

Liv popped a button on her top and then began to flirt with the first male orderly who came her way. Soon she had a key card and they threw on scrubs that Tyler had found in a closet. She slid the card and Tyler grabbed a wheelchair. Entering the ward, they kept their heads down, peering inside each room. She spotted not just Klaus, but Stefan, as well. "Stefan's here, too," she whispered to Tyler.

"We should take them down one at a time," Tyler told her.

Liv nodded, feeling exhausted but she entered Klaus' room anyway, waking him up and getting him the hell out of there. Soon she returned to collect Stefan. Both of the males wanted to know about Caroline but she had not seen a glimpse of the cheerleader in question. Maybe she hadn't been looking hard enough. They got Stefan and Klaus out to a car where Bonnie and Kol were waiting for them.

"Good luck," Liv called. "But I have to stay to see if Kai makes it through this."

Re-entering the hospital, Liv ducked into a bathroom stall to ditch her new clothes and then walked back out. She looked around for Tyler. Apparently he wanted to take his dear, sweet time. Her eyes moved to the desk where a doctor was talking to the nurse there. She pointed at Liv. "Ms. Parker?" he called.

Hurrying over to the desk, Liv waited for the doctor to speak. "Hello, I'm Dr. Wes. I operated on your brother. He has a lot of fight in him and is very lucky. We were able to remove the bullet and it looks like he will be able to recover all the abilities he had prior to the shooting," he told her and Liv let out a cry of relief. "However, he is currently in a coma. We believe that he will wake in the next twenty-four hours. If not, then we will have to discuss your options."

"My options?" Liv did not like the sound of that.

"Are your parents in the area, Ms. Parker?" Dr. Wes asked, sliding his hand into his pocket.

"No," Liv shook her head.

"I would call them. I would call them tonight," Dr. Wes advised. "It's always good for patients to hear their family members," he told her. "If you'll excuse me. I have other patients to attend to."

Feeling like someone had kicked her in the stomach, Liv tried not to cry. She looked around for Tyler but he had gone missing. Her legs moved toward an empty seat and she started to cry. When someone offered her a tissue, she thanked him quietly and then she looked up to find the male orderly who had been talking to the blonde doctor, grinning at her. "Hi there, if you ever want to see your boyfriend, you'll want to follow me," he told her.

The world began to spin when Liv got to her feet and he took her by the arm, easing her toward the elevator. To the common observer they it might appear that he was helping her, in fact, his grip stopped her from running away. Not that she could if she wanted to. The exhaustion had finally caught up with her. She felt herself being carried through the doors and then laid on a bed. Opening her eyes, Liv stared at Tyler who had a needle stuck in his arm and restraints, holding him down to the bed.

"What are you doing to him?" Liv asked as the blonde doctor appeared.

"It's not what I did. It's what I'm going to do. I've been playing with anti-psychotic treatments for awhile now. None of them seem to work. But you try, try again," the doctor said before grabbing the end of Tyler's bed and pushing her toward the bed.

"Get off of him!" Liv screamed, trying to get off of the bed when the orderly, held her down.

"Where are you going, sweetie? The party is just about to begin," he told her, his lips grazing her neck and Liv screamed, thrashing on the bed.

"Get off of me. Get off of me!" Liv screamed.

"Now, Brady. Don't be vulgar. You can play with her later. And the other one, too. I need help with my experiment," the doctor called and Liv felt relieved when he moved to get up.

"I'll be back to tuck you in," he said, placing his hand on her thigh, making Liv gag in response.

When they were gone, Liv looked around for something, anything she could use as a weapon. Stupid orderly had strapped her to the bed and it looked like she would be stuck for the moment. Knowing she would die here, Liv cursed every day of her life and then some. Jerking at the restraints, she tried to free herself; it was no use. After awhile, she heard sound from the hall. It sounded like someone gasping for breath because they were in pain.

The door opened and Caroline Forbes nearly fell down, clutching her side. Blood seeped into the hospital gown she wore. "Liv?" she cried, moving toward the bed and then letting out a hiss of pain.

"Caroline, can you loosen these for me?" Liv begged.

Caroline nodded, hissing again but she moved over to the bed and pulled the restraints. "Have you seen Klaus?" she gasped, her face pale from lack of blood. Her hand clutched her wound.

"Yeah. He's okay. Bonnie and Kol got him and Stefan out of here," Liv told Caroline who sighed in relief, smiling happily before sinking to the floor.

Freeing herself, Liv got off the bed and knelt next to Caroline. Looking under the gown, she found where someone had either stabbed Caroline or had removed her appendix. Liv's had blown when she was ten and she had the scar to prove it. "Caroline, wake up. We need to get out of here," Liv told Caroline who nodded but didn't move. Finally, Liv had to place Caroline's arm over her shoulder and half carry her out of the room.

Liv swiped the key card and they got down to the lobby where Hayley Marshall and Damon Salvatore were carrying Elijah Mikaelson between them. "I'll get some bandages, you keep an eye on Elijah," Hayley ordered Damon when Elena came in with a black eye.

"Hey, take her," Liv ordered Damon, holding Caroline out to him,

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Damon demanded, taking Caroline and setting her beside Elijah.

"Long story. I have to find Tyler," Liv told them.

"I'll come with you," Damon offered.

"Be careful," Elena cried, grabbing Damon and kissing him passionately.

When they parted, Damon and Liv went hunting for Tyler and the crazy doctor. They didn't find her, but they did find Tyler, in an OR. Liv slipped to the floor, screaming in silent horror as she looked at her boyfriend. Or what was left of her boyfriend. His internal organs lie on the table beside his body. "Oh, that doesn't look good," Damon said and then then they heard someone behind them.

"Oh, look volunteers," the blonde doctor cried, holding up a scalpel and they began to fight.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, my lovely readers. There are only three chapter left after this one. On with the show…**

Chapter 10: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

Bonnie Bennett had never been like her best friend, Caroline, who loved Halloween, or like her other bestie, Elena, who could be easily frightened under the right circumstances. She felt rather oblivious to the whole thrills and chills of Fright Night. Until this Halloween. Tonight, Bonnie Bennett felt real fear and not just for herself but for everyone she cared about.

The night had started out like any other night. They had been sitting on Elena's bed, planning the night's activities and having fun. No big deal. Teasing Jeremy, also part of the same old. But when Oliver Kenner's body had been found in the woods by his brother, Jackson—that made the stupid threats posted at their school real—and not so funny after all. Watching Hayley wail. Watching people beginning to panic. Trying to talk to Jeremy. All of that left Bonnie tense, sick to her stomach and desirous of curling under her bedcovers and waiting for the nightmare to end.

Everything felt unreal. It was like she began to do everything on autopilot. One part of her tried to be rational while others collapsed under the heavy cloud of paranoia and terror. Or at least she wanted to believe she wasn't acting like everyone else. However, this minute she was on the phone with Jeremy Gilbert, her sometimes, sort-of, maybe quasi boyfriend although they never really talked about what they were aside from stolen moments together. Complicated. They were complicated due to the whole my friend is your sister and you're in high school but I still kind of love you as more than a friend. But they had never actually said it. And tonight would be the last chance Bonnie ever got to tell him.

Damon took off. Stefan was missing. Caroline was yelling for Rebekah. Her voice was louder than most from her former years of cheerleading. But this was not the peppy Caroline known for her school spirit. This Caroline's eyes were red-rimmed, her mouth open, lips stretched back from her teeth, her entire body shaking from the howl. "Re-be-KAH!" To the sound of nothing in return. No echo. No response. Silence except for Hayley's keening.

More chaos. Finding out that there was a second victim. Or maybe a first victim. This one luckier than Oliver. Hayley Marshall. Screaming her head off in the background. Caroline. Glassy eyed. Confused. Looking for Klaus. Elena. Panicking. Damon. Distraught. Elijah. Trying to keep calm. Trying to keep others calm.

"You just need to wait for me," Bonnie heard herself saying to Jer. She would tell him the minute they were alone together. She would tell him. I. Love. You. But it would help if he lived to hear them.

"I've got to get back to your place to make sure Jer's okay," Bonnie told Elena and Caroline breathlessly.

Elena looked relived. Bonnie knew her friend was torn between the desire to protect her remaining family and being by Damon's side. "Thanks, Bonnie, you'll let me know the minute you find him?"

"Of course," Bonnie said. She hugged Elena and then Caroline before hurrying through the woods, being slapped by tree branches and nearly falling over roots. Making it to her car, she fumbled for the keys, jumping whenever a noise got too close for comfort.

The keys slipped through her now trembling fingers and she cursed under her breath. "Damn it," she muttered.

"Now, child, is that any way to talk?" her grams tsked. Bonnie felt hot tears fill her eyes. Wiping them away with a quick brush of her hand, she sucked in a calming breath. Her grams had been gone for two long years now but sometimes she still spoke to Bonnie. If she told anyone that they would have her locked up in Mystic Falls Center for the Mentally Unwell. Such a nice name for such a horrible place.

Dropping to her knees, Bonnie's hand scraped against hard cement as she looked for her keys in the pitch black make-shift parking lot. Seeing a pair of black boots and then the end of an axe, Bonnie slid under her car. Her hand closed over her mouth to prevent herself from emitting the scream of terror she felt building. The feet paused for a moment across from her eyes and then moved on.

Bonnie silently counted to one thousand and then crawled, cautiously, out from under the car. Slipping her key into the driver's side door, she peered into the back, scared that someone would pop out from there. When the coast seemed clear, she closed the door, as quietly as possible and started the engine. As her headlights came on a figure with long black hair and features that looked oddly familiar appeared in front of her; she screamed as the woman lifted her axe.

The car caused dirt to fly when she slammed her foot on the accelerator and then flew backwards. Gritting her teeth, she spun the wheel in a wide circle and away from the maniac. Pumping the brake, she gained control of the car before gunning the engine again and flying out of the parking lot. She only slowed down when she found herself on a residential road. The streets were far too quiet for Halloween. Where was everyone? No lights shown from the houses. It was like everyone had left town.

A woman with long blonde hair leapt from the top of a fence to Bonnie's right and came running toward the car, her arms waving frantically. Bonnie made up her mind to slow down while she feared it might be a trap. Rebekah's face came into view and she felt relieved, stopping the car completely so the blonde could get in. She hit the passenger side window so it rolled down as Rebekah approached the car. "Hey, Rebekah!" she called, relieved to see someone she ordinarily hated. Then she saw the blood on the girl. "Oh. Are you okay?" she felt lame. Stupid question. Obviously you can't wear that much blood and be okay.

Rebekah jerked the passenger side door open, collapsing into the car and not bothering with a seat belt before replying, "No. Both my parents are dead. I have a long lost sister who is _killing_ people. And I can't find any of my brothers." Her gaze moved from the dark, silent street and then back to Bonnie. "I assure you that sitting here staring at me will only get you killed."

This was all it took for Bonnie's mind to return to her prior objective: finding Jeremy. "I'm going to Jeremy's," she told Rebekah who did not try to hide her disdain. Even in a situation like this, she had to act like a spoiled brat. Stopping herself from not-so-politely inviting Rebekah the hell out of her car, Bonnie reminded herself that Rebekah was scared and traumatized. But did she have to be such a bitch?

They drove without speaking a word to each other until they got to the Gilbert's. Maybe Queen Bekah would like to stay in the car, with the motor running, in case one of the killers appeared so she could drive off, leaving Bonnie to die horribly.

Getting out of her car, Bonnie's eyes flicked to the Parker residence where someone had just gotten out of a car. Rebekah tensed and Bonnie moved to get back into her car when she recognized the long legs and arrogance that was Malachi Parker. Usually Bonnie would not be happy to see the guy who had come onto her regularly for the past three years without taking a day off. Not even Christmas when he tried to kiss her under the mistletoe one year before his lips connected with a wall. "Kai!" she called to him with a genuine smile.

"Hey. Liv called me and told me to get my ass home but then she hung up or something. Besides the dead bodies in the woods were kind of killing the mood. So what's up with you?" Kai asked with a wide grin.

Bonnie winced when she saw Rebekah's body tighten as if she might attack Kai. Not the best choice of words. But that was Kai. Love him or hate him.

"My father was beheaded and my mother made me leave her with a couple of psychos," Rebekah told him and Kai just stared at her before he let out a laugh.

Again. His choice of reaction could have been better. Bonnie saw a glint of nervousness in his eyes that Rebekah did not seem to see as her eyes moved away from the tall man before them. Maybe it was because Kai had spent so much time pursuing her that Bonnie had learned how to read him. His body had shifted and his hands had moved, wiping at the sides of his pants. Sweat. His palms were sweating. He felt the fear. He just didn't want the women to know it.

"Man, Halloween really makes people say some weird shit," Kai said and Bonnie rolled her eyes. He could bullshit if he wanted but she knew him too well. Deciding to not call his bluff, she went over to the Gilbert's front door and would have knocked. However, the door hung wide open. Never a good sign.

Stepping inside, gingerly, avoiding the bloody hand print on the front door. "Jeremy?" Bonnie called, looking around for her boyfriend. She felt relieved that he was nowhere in sight. That meant he might still be alive and have half a chance of getting through this night.

Kai said something which Bonnie chose to ignore. He and Rebekah began to snipe at each other. Bonnie mused that maybe Kai would develop a crush on the Mikaelson sister when this had ended and they could drive each other crazy. The only problem was that Rebekah did not even live in Mystic Falls. Perhaps Kai's feelings would become so strong that he would follow her all the way to New Orleans. Fat chance.

Rolling her eyes as she took a quick tour of the house with her companions, she stopped by the answering machine and pressed play, hoping to find a message from Jer for Elena. Instead she got a message for Jer from Elena. _Why were they in jail?_ She wondered to herself.

Kai and Rebekah started in on each other again and Bonnie felt her head begin to pound. When Rebekah moved to leave, Bonnie called after her, "Where are you going?"

Rebekah pivoted on one heel and glared at Bonnie before responding. "I'm going to find my brothers before they, too, become the victims of tonight's Halloween massacre."

Bonnie followed the angry blonde with Kai on her heels. Kai and Rebekah argued all the way to the car and continued once they were inside. Ignoring them in favor of buckling her seat belt and starting the car up, Bonnie slammed on the brakes the second she felt a bump, sending Kai and Rebekah forward in their seats. Her first thought was: They should have put their seat belts on. Her second was: Oh, God! I hit someone!

They got out of the car and Bonnie's eyes widened in incomprehension when she realized that a scarecrow lay under her car. "Get back in the car!" Rebekah's voice screamed at her. Bonnie's body recoiled backwards when an axe came close to giving her a new haircut. Axe Lady missed and the axe became lodged in the roof of the car. Bonnie did not stop to watch her foe's struggles to retrieve her weapon. Getting back into her car, she hit the gas pedal, twisting the wheel frantically. There was another lunatic threatening Rebekah. Bonnie had had enough. Backing up, she caused Axe Lady to fall off and plowed into her, sending her flying before she spun the wheel and sent Rebekah's stalker flying a good yard from them.

"Whoa. Now those people are _really_ into Halloween," Kai said with a laugh. Rebekah was about to hit him when he pulled out his phone. "I've got a message from Liv. Want to hear?" Bonnie and Rebekah nodded.

Listening to Liv's message to her older brother gave Bonnie the same sense of unease that listening to Elena's message had. Now she had no idea where to go until the decision was made for her.

The back windshield exploded and Bonnie slapped her hands over her ears, bracing for the impact of a bullet. Her eyes opened when she realized she had not been hit. But she felt blood on her cheek. Looking behind her, she found Kai, slumped over, blood pouring from his head. "No," she moaned. Maybe to herself.

"We have to go to the hospital," Bonnie told Rebekah, looking at Kai, feeling miserable.

"He's dead," Rebekah argued. Callous as ever.

No, he's still breathing," Bonnie replied. She placed her hand just outside Kai's lips, feeling the warmth of his shallow breath on her palm, making her shiver.

"Damn. Well, drop me at the sheriff's _first_. I still have my gold card and someone has to rescue Elena and Damon from their stupidity as usual," Rebekah retorted.

"Fine. But we're going to have to be quick," Bonnie muttered, slamming her foot on the gas. She ignored anything else Rebekah had to say and the minute the blonde got out her car, she yanked the passenger side door closed and pounded the gas with her foot. "Kai! Kai, can you hear me?" she called. Kai grunted. That might be a good sign. "Kai, if you live, I will go out with you. I will. You know I don't break my promises. I'll even let you kiss me. Okay?" She felt tears running down her cheeks as she spoke. Kai did not reply.

When she got to the hospital, she ran through the automatic doors, "I need HELP!" she screamed. "My friend was shot in the head!"

A couple of doctors and nurses came running. "Where is your friend?" one of them asked.

"In the car. In my car. Just outside," Bonnie told them.

"Okay. Thanks, hon," one of the nurses said. "As soon as we get him you'll need to move your car to parking. We need the ambulance bay open at all times. Okay?"

Bonnie nodded, feeling numb. She followed them outside. Getting inside her car, she drove up the curling ramp and into the parking garage. It always felt kind of creepy but especially when there were people trying to kill those you cared for. Getting out on shaking legs, Bonnie walked to the elevator and got out on the first floor to ask about Kai. They couldn't tell her anything since he wasn't family. She considered lying and telling them she was Kai's fiancée and then felt guilty considering the fact that she had all but forgotten about Jeremy.

Liv came toward her about an hour after Bonnie arrived at the hospital. "Bonnie, what's wrong?" Liv demanded with her usual amount of tact. Her wild curls looked wilder. Her face pale. Her lips pressing into a hard grimace.

Bonnie couldn't hold it in anymore. Too much had happened tonight. "Kai…It's Kai…He was…" Bonnie trailed off, choking on her own sobs as Tyler approached.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, his own eyes haunted.

"I was driving and found Rebekah, running away from one of the killers. We drove to Jeremy's but he wasn't home. Kai came over, looking for you." Bonnie stopped, trying to calm down. When we were driving away, someone shot at the car… and… and," she started to sob again.

"They shot Kai," Liv finished Bonnie's explanation for her.

"He's in surgery. They don't know if he'll be okay or not," Bonnie said quietly, trembling. "Rebekah's who knows where as are Elena, Damon and a ton of our friends. I don't know where most of our friends are," Bonnie moaned. She wanted to see her friends. She wanted to know they were okay.

Kol's voice sounded not far away. "I'm over here, love," he called, beckoning her over to his side.

Feeling relieved for this once who knew how many times by now, Bonnie moved toward Kol on legs that felt like they were encased in cement. "Kol," she whispered as he slipped an arm around her while a nurse checked his head wound. "You're okay?"

"He'll live. As long as he's careful for the next couple of days. He should make a full recovery," the nurse said.

"Perhaps I can get out of a few exams this week," Kol said with a grin, winking at Bonnie who smiled back. "Haven't seen my siblings, have you?"

"I saw Rebekah," Bonnie did not tell him that his little sister went on what might be a suicide mission.

"Good. Good. What about the boys? Seen any of them lately?" Kol inquired, hopping off the stretcher.

"No," Bonnie said, shaking her head.

"Damn. Afraid you might say that. Well, there is no time like the present to go looking for them, is there?" Kol told her.

Bonnie nodded. "I heard there's something crazy going on at the Sherriff's station. Some of them might be there," she suggested.

"Good enough plan for me," Kol told her. They got on the elevator and headed to Bonnie's car. Bonnie drove out of the hospital's parking garage without incident. The drive was quiet except for the times she had to stop Kol from going to sleep. You couldn't allow a person with a head injury to go to sleep.

"Kol, wake up!" Bonnie shouted when she saw Mikael Miklaelson's car. Then she remembered Rebekah saying a million years ago that her father was dead.

"Father!" Kol shouted with a look relief. He jumped out of the car Bonnie came to a stop.

"Kol, don't!" Bonnie cried, trying to catch up with him when Kol stopped and then leaned over to vomit.

"Oh, God! Oh, no!" Kol moaned. After a long moment, he made his way back to Bonnie's car and called Rebekah. "Bekah, pick up the blasted phone!" he shouted before throwing it on the floor. "Damn it!" he yelled, clutching his head.

Bonnie wanted to comfort him but her phone began to ring. Tyler's name flashed across her screen and she thought it might be an update on Kai. "How quickly can you get back to the hospital?" Tyler asked her in a hushed tone.

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes," Bonnie said. "If I obey the law."

"Fuck the law. Get here! Now!" Tyler snapped before hanging up.

Bonnie hung up. "We need to get back to the hospital," she told Kol who nodded and got back into her car. Her foot pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor. "Buckle up!" she yelled at Kol.

Soon they were outside the hospital's front doors. Back in the ambulance bay. She would get into so much trouble if an emergency vehicle showed up right now. Then the doors opened and Tyler came out with Klaus followed by Liv with Stefan. Kol went running to his brother while Bonnie remained behind the wheel.

When Klaus was inside the car they had to explain that his father was dead. "We saw him on our way here," her words fell out of her mouth like boulders crashing down a steep cliff.

Bonnie had begun to drive away when Stefan played a message from Damon. "Stefan, stay away from me…" Damon's words made Bonnie's stomach move over in a complete somersault.

"Baby girl, you're in for a big mess before this night is out," her grams whispered to her.

Shaking her head, Bonnie tried to concentrate on the road before her and something going on in the backseat of the car. "Klaus, what's going on back there?" she demanded.

"Stefan, mate, wake up," Kol cried out.

"His pulse is fading," Klaus told them. Bonnie turned the car around in a wide U-turn. "We can't go back there!" Klaus shouted with a look of horror.

"If we don't, he dies!" Bonnie yelled back.

"If we do, he dies all the same!" Klaus snapped.

"What if it were your brother, or Rebekah, or Caroline? Where in the hell is Caroline?" Bonnie shouted at Klaus, turning to glare at him.

"Eyes on the bloody road, Bennett!" Kol yelled.

"I. Don't. Know!" Klaus screamed before he started to cry and then punched the back of his seat in frustration. "I don't know. I don't know!" he kept saying.

"We'll find her," Bonnie swore. "And we will make these crazy bitches pay for all of this. You don't fuck with me and my friends!"

"That's my Bonnie." For a moment, Bonnie saw a glimpse of her grams standing beside the road, nodding at her with an approving smile and then she disappeared. Maybe Bonnie was going crazy but maybe it took a crazy person to stop tonight's madness.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **halfmylifeDE: Thank you. I hope you enjoyed the update.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, my lovely readers. There are only two more chapters after this one. They will posted on Saturday and Halloween Monday. Also this in part of my 32 updates until my birthday November 27** **th** **. On with the show…**

Chapter 11: Not a Treat

 **Six hours till Halloween:**

Elijah Miakelson stood inside the Mikaelson family kitchen. He had been enjoying a cup of warm cider that his mother prepared for the family. His siblings were all over the house preparing the party for that evening while his parents were in the living room, trying to ignore them. This left Elijah to brood on the warnings that so many seemed to think were harmless pranks. Many a time had people found themselves dead at the hand of a "harmless prankster."

"Come on, Hayley!" his youngest sibling called from the hallway. Elijah glanced through the open doorway to see Hayley's long waves go bouncing after his sister's blonde curls. His lips curled into a smile before he glanced back out into the backyard and Elijah felt his heart stop.

"Kol!" Elijah shouted. His adrenaline skipped and his feet propelled him toward the back door of their home. "Father! Mother!" Elijah shouted on his way into the yard. His youngest brother, Kol, the prankster of the family, swung back and forth from a tree limb, his head dangling at an odd angle. "Dear God! No!" Elijah cried. He grabbed Kol's legs which dangled lifelessly and Elijah felt tears pricking at the backs of his eyelids. He still remembered a tiny infant grasping his finger. Not Kol. No!

"Elijah? What's going on?" Esther called and then shrieked at the sight of her Kol hanging from the tree limb. "No! Mikael! Oh, God! Oh, no!"

"Kol!" Mikael shouted, coming running out to help Elijah.

Klaus and Rebekah came out with Hayley trailing behind them. "Shit!" Hayley said loudly before she came to stand beside Elijah. She pulled out a switchblade, popping a tiny button and holding it out to Elijah who cut through the rope, freeing his brother's body.

Klaus and Rebekah knelt down beside Kol's lifeless form while Mikael began to do chest compressions. "Bloody hell," Rebekah muttered, moving to press her mouth to Kol's when he sat bolt upright.

"Ha! Had you lot fooled. And, thanks Bex, but I don't want the kind of therapy I'll need if we ever exchange spit," Kol began to laugh and Klaus had to hold their father back.

"I'm going to murder you, Kol!" Mikael roared while Esther placed herself between her son and her enraged husband.

"Mikael, no. It is Halloween. You know that Kol loves this holiday and, yes, he acted rashly but many children are doing so today." Esther turned and gave Kol a wary look. "Do not frighten us like this again," she warned him. "Or I will not stand between you and your father's fury."

"Yes, mother," Kol said, bowing his head.

Esther took Mikael's hand and they returned to the house.

"You little wanker!" Rebekah hauled off and smacked Kol on the arm.

"Ouch!" Kol complained, rubbing his arm and then letting out another laugh. "Wait till next year."

"I will kill you myself if you try something like that again," Elijah snapped before turning and walking away.

 **11:30 p.m. Day before Halloween:**

Elijah stood, watching the partygoers: his friend, Elena Gilbert, her boyfriend, Damon Salvatore, his siblings and their friends and Hayley and the men she thought of as her family. Feeling his heart quicken at the sight of the tall brunette, Elijah's gaze moved away. He would not tell her how he felt. He couldn't. The last time he had fallen for a girl, she had been trying to use him to escape a mental facility. He would not allow himself to be vulnerable again. At least that's what he thought he would do. But this night would be full of surprises.

The party dragged on while people began to disappear. They probably intended to find some alone time with their paramours. Elijah chuckled to himself, sipping his beer until a scream ripped through the air. He would know her voice anywhere. And when did she leave?

"Hayley!" Elijah shouted but she didn't reply. He dropped his cup and began running. His feet collided with rocks and strewn tree limbs but none of it would keep him from her if someone was hurting her.

Finding her beside a body came as a relief. She wasn't hurt. Not physically speaking. Grabbing her, he pulled her to him, pressing her close, looking for danger, taking in their friends, ever alert to a threat.

Caroline Forbes startled him out of his survey of their surroundings. "Elijah!" the blonde called. Her eyes were frantic and he almost knew what she would say before she said it as he got to his feet, tugging Hayley with him.

"Klaus. He's missing…" Caroline's words came out and Elijah could only watch her mouth move. He knew. He knew his family was in danger tonight. Why hadn't he tried harder to stop them? Caroline stopped talking and Elijah began to work.

"Jackson, take Hayley. Go somewhere safe," Elijah snapped at Jackson. Never his favorite person, Jackson Kenner could be rather pig-headed at times. As promised, Jackson began to argue but Elijah ignored his words. His actions were what counted right at that moment.

Caroline broke his concentration on the remaining male in the Kenner family. "I'll stay with Hayley," she told him and Elijah looked up at Caroline. He knew there had been bad blood between the two girls in the recent past but this was not the time to worry about petty rivalries.

Taking Hayley's face between his hands, Elijah tried to make eye contact with her, she was clearly in shock. "Hayley, Caroline will watch you until I get back. I will be back soon," he promised her but she did not seem to hear him.

Elijah moved into the woods. He had no idea what kind of people or monsters he might be facing out here but he knew he could not leave his siblings out, lost and vulnerable to whatever threat they were facing.

His feet moved him closer to where the party had been. Beer cans, cups, and other debris littered the ground. It seemed that people had fled in terror.

"Hello there," a voice called from behind him. "Lost?"

Turning on his heel, Elijah looked into the dark blue eyes of a hooded figure. He couldn't make out anything about the person. He thought they might be female but did not want to make an assumption based on body size. Being female did not preclude the person from being deranged if the knife in her hand was any clue.

"Hello," Elijah answered her.

"I know some people who have been looking for you," the figure replied with a quiet laugh.

"Yes. And who might they be? Why don't you come with me and find out?" the figure asked before launching herself at him.

Elijah ducked down into a crouch and rolled away. Stopping mere feet away, he watched the woman, her long black hair falling out and streaming down the sides of her face, grinned at him and then moved toward him again.

"Don't you want to know why we're doing this?" the woman asked, making her way toward Elijah.

"Does it matter?" Elijah retorted. "Everyone has a motive. No matter how absurd others might find it. No one acts with some desire to gain an effect."

"Oh, what a lovely way of looking at life. Here's a clue: not everything has a reason for being. Some things just are." The black haired woman ran at him again and Elijah moved at the last second, watching her knife become stuck in the tree behind him. "I'm going to enjoy watching them kill you," she snarled at Elijah.

"You know, I do not like to hit women and I despise men who do but there are exceptions to every rule." Elijah lifted his elbow and knocked the woman out with a swift blow before heading away. He still needed to find Niklaus, Kol and Rebekah.

His body moved quickly through the woods. His siblings were nowhere in sight. "Damn it," he growled under his breath when he heard a branch snap behind him and it occurred to him that staying in the woods might not be the best idea. Moving quickly, Elijah exited the The Falls and headed toward the parking lot, looking for one car with keys in the ignition.

No one seemed to be overly trusting tonight. Sighing, Elijah was about to give up when a loud thump startled him. He spun around on his heel to find a car stopped mere feet away and someone shouting his name. That was impossible. Surely Caroline and the others would be gone by now along with Hayley. But there she was, fear in her eyes, her arms extended toward him like she could pull him to her.

Two things happened at the same time. Elijah saw the hooded figure who had stalked him back to the parking lot get to his/her feet and moved toward the open car door where Hayley sat. The second thing that happened was that Elijah finally noticed an open car door. Something metal gleamed from within. Without thinking about what he did or what the metal thing might be, Elijah grabbed it and turned toward his would-be assailant.

On an adrenaline high, Elijah smacked the hooded figure on the shoulder with the tire iron. This person might be a murderer but Elijah Mikaelson was not and did not intend to become one unless forced to be. Diving into the car, Elijah found himself sprawled across Hayley and a startled Jackson. "Drive!" he bellowed at Caroline who seemed frozen in the driver's seat.

Elijah took a moment to settle between Hayley and Jackson. Hayley's hand moved across the seat and took his; he would have smiled under other, more pleasant circumstances. Caroline gained his attention. "Did you find Klaus?" Her voice rose several octaves higher than it usually sounded. Her skin looked bloodless, lacking the usual warm pink tinge.

"No," Elijah's one word ricocheted around the car in the silence before disappearing, followed by more words that sounded more like excuses to Elijah. A denial of failure but surely it was a failure and still the words came out. "I tried to, but he…I hope he went home." Then more dreadful silence as Caroline's ghostly fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

No one spoke until Elijah saw something familiar up ahead in the road. Father's car. Perhaps he had a flat. "That's my father's!" Elijah cried out to gain Caroline's attention. His brother's girlfriend pulled over and he got out to go find and talk to his father, feeling relieved.

Approaching the car, Elijah thought there was something wrong and then he saw his father's head. The world lurched to the side and his stomach heaved. Suddenly the little bit of beer wanted to make another appearance, coming out rather than going in. "No!" Elijah yelled, falling to his knees.

Caroline said something but Elijah had no idea what. Hayley began to yank on him. His first instinct was to pull away. He had to stay. He had to stay there and talk to the sheriff. Someone had to tell Mother and Niklaus, Rebekah and Kol. To call Finn. To…to…to… "Father!" Elijah cried out seeing the man who had carried him on his shoulders, who helped them make a treehouse, who pushed him on the swing set.

Hayley, Elena and Caroline forced Elijah to his feet and shoved him back into the car. Caroline began to drive again and Elijah tried to think of what to tell his family. Father…is gone. Father's head was sliced off. Father will not be joining us for breakfast. Nothing seemed right. And there would be funeral arrangements. What did they do when the body came in two parts? It would not be an open casket ceremony. Perhaps cremation would be best. He, Finn and Mother would have to choose, later, not now.

They entered the emergency room and Elena asked about Stefan before they headed for the bank of the elevators. Elijah mumbled to himself, trying to remember if Father had ever said anything about provisions for the family. What if there were no living will? What if he had hidden debt? What if he hated flowers and would have preferred candles at the funeral?

"My father was decapitated," he said by way of greeting to Damon Salvatore who blinked back at him.

"What?" Damon looked confused and shocked before Elena distracted him with questions about his brother.

"Elijah, why don't you sit down?" Caroline called, waving toward a row of seats. "Why don't all of you sit down?" Her words now included Hayley and Jackson. Kenner lost his brother, Elijah remembered, glancing at the other man who slumped down beside Hayley who took his hand and then took Elijah's with her free one.

Something Damon said startled Elijah. "When did you see Niklaus?" he demanded.

"Like an hour ago… Wait. What time is it?" Damon did not seem certain.

"Two o'clock," Hayley offered, staring at the bright screen of her phone. Elijah glanced away. The light hurt his sore eyes.

Damon's answer did not help. Elijah already knew these things happened. He had seen Klaus looking for Caroline. What he wanted was for someone to tell him that Niklaus was somewhere safe. "I'm sure he's fine," Elena told him and Caroline. Elijah felt less than certain. He knew she meant to be kind.

Elijah heard Caroline mention coffee and Hayley got up. For a moment he thought Hayley intended to go with Caroline when she took another path. Caroline followed her. Elena and Damon were talking again. To him, to someone else or to each other, Elijah did not feel sure.

After what felt like an eternity in hell, he got to his feet. "The girls have been gone for too long. I'm going to try to find them." Elijah could not just sit there, waiting for what bad news would come to greet them next.

"Be careful," Elena said and hugged him. Her friendship meant more than Elijah believed he had told her. If they survived this night, he would write her a letter, thanking her.

"I will," Elijah promised them with a solemn look. "Text me if you get news," he ordered Damon before leaving the couple. He knew from viewing Kol's favorite horror movies that splitting up usually ended badly for whoever did so. However, he would not allow Hayley and Caroline to run around by themselves. Who knew for sure if it would be only males who fell victim to this group's madness?

Elijah began on the floor they were on. He peered into rooms until a young blonde doctor came toward him. "I'm sorry, can I help you find someone?" she asked him with a sweet smile.

"Oh. I'm not sure. I came in with my friends. But I was hoping that maybe my brother might have been brought in. Well. No. No one hopes that their sibling is brought in… Rather, we can't find him. And I was hoping…if he were hurt…that he would be here," Elijah finished feeling uncertain about his choice of words.

"Okay. Well, why don't you tell me what your brother's name is?" the doctor asked.

"Klaus. Niklaus Mikaelson."

"Oh. Yes. He's here. Did you want me to take you to him?" She smiled and Elijah felt relief course through his body.

"Very much so." Elijah followed the woman down the hall and into a room. He moved cautiously toward the person lying on the bed. "Niklaus?" he called quietly.

When Klaus did not respond, Elijah moved closer and peered down. The room's only source of light came from the moon through the window. Elijah's back stiffened when he realized that man in the bed was not his brother. "Who is this? This is not my brother," he snapped, turning to find the doctor trying to shove a hypodermic into his arm. "What are you doing?" he demanded, smacking the needle away from her.

"You couldn't do it the easy way?" the blonde doctor snarled. Now, he saw a gleam of insanity in her eyes as she moved to kick him between the legs but he leapt back before giving her a healthy push backwards. She cursed as he moved past her, toward the door.

Elijah yelped when he felt something stab him in the ankle. The doctor or escapee from the mental facility had cut him in the ankle with a scalpel. He leant over, grabbed the scalpel and wrenched it free while she looked for her needle full of who-knew-what.

His feet could not carry him fast enough out of the room. The stairwell was not that far away and so Elijah made a run for it. Coming through the door, he slammed his shoulder into it, feeling the impact and groaning in pain.

Go up? Go down? Elijah decided to go up for some reason. Going up turned out to be the right decision when he found Hayley. Grabbing her elbow, he could not contain the relief he felt when he found her unharmed. "Hayley, you're safe," he was saying. "You're safe."

"Elijah, there's something wrong with this place. I don't know what's going on. Klaus. We found Klaus. And Caroline was with me. They were right behind me," Hayley's eyes moved to look for the missing members of her band of three.

"There is a fake doctor here. We need to go as soon as possible," Elijah explained when the fake doctor appeared as if summoned.

Caroline appeared with a fire extinguisher, held high. When Elijah realized that Caroline intended to smash his brains in, he would have been dead if not for Niklaus. "Caroline!" his brother shouted, stopping Caroline.

"Caroline, if you must kill someone, make sure you're killing the right person," Elijah said with his usual calm demeanor, feeling more like himself, if only for a moment.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you. You really shouldn't have tried to leave the ward," the fake doctor was saying as she moved down the stairs. "I'll have to have you restrained once we get back," she was telling Niklaus.

Elijah stood, listening to Caroline and the doctor speak, feeling like he had had entered into a surreal dream and only wished to wake up. Then Hayley shoved a needle into the fake doctor's arm and they were free to run for their lives. Plus one sibling. Minus two. If only finding Bekah and Kol could be this easy.

Elijah led the way back to the door of the fourth floor, shoving it open and felt happy that Elena and Damon were still there. "We have to leave," he announced.

Of course Damon argued. He would, too, if the roles were reversed but Damon had yet to encounter the crazy doctor. "Where's Jackson?" Hayley questioned Damon and Elena.

Elena explained that Jackson was gone. Hayley began to cry. Elijah felt that they would all be crying before this night ended. Klaus suggested that they spring Stefan which Elijah thought was an excellent idea with an inmate running about. Elena came up with a plan and they moved to execute it.

The plan might have worked if the fake doctor hadn't stopped them with—possibly—fake security guards. Soon his brother, Caroline and Stefan were taken from them. "Hey, where are you taking them?" he shouted but, of course, they did not bother to answer. He had just gotten his brother back, only to lose him, again.

A car from a Sherriff's station waited outside for them to be loaded inside. Elena and Damon were forced inside first. Then Hayley and Elijah. They were all crowded into the back. All four of the young people began to speak at once while the deputies ignored them.

Arriving at the Sherriff's station someone deigned to speak to them: Sherriff Elizabeth Forbes. Only she did want to hear what they had to say. Elijah believed that this followed a typical horror movie sequence: scared teens try to talk to parents/authority figures, are ignored and almost everyone dies, including the ignorant figures in charge.

Sherriff Forbes finally mentioned something that gave Elijah any opening. A report of a body on a road leading away from The Falls. "You mean my father, yes, I saw his body, he had his head cut off," Elijah told the Sheriff before he stopped talking and stared at the ceiling.

Elijah decided to tune out the rest of the conversation until Liz left and Elena began to try to reason with her. Matt Donavon had always been a little slower to pick up on things in Elijah's opinion but he was not without some sense. If only he could make the younger man see reason.

"What are you on?" Matt asked them like this was some kind of joke.

"Nothing!" Elijah yelled, feeling his frustration mounting.

A commotion from the front of the station forced Elijah's attention away from the former jock. Elijah felt his stomach lurch when Katherine came into view. He never thought or wished to see her again.

When he had first met her, her resemblance to his friend had struck him. He had been working on a project for college, intending to study psychology and had even been given permission to speak with Katherine on occasion. At first she seemed sweet, innocent. She could not be the girl who had burned down her family home at the age of five while her family slept peacefully. She could not have tied her twin to her bed and placed a plastic bag over her head. Nor could she be the girl who cut off her Uncle John's fingers with a butcher knife at the tender age of six just to see if they could really be sewn back on.

No, Elijah fell into Katherine's trap. And she almost convinced him to free her from the mental facility that she lived in until he asked her about Elena one day.

" _Bitch," Katherine muttered into her unruly locks._

" _What?" Elijah had replied, feeling startled._

" _Bitch, took my life. Everything! She took them all. Everyone! Everyone loved precious Elena. Elena's so sweet. Elena's so pretty. Elena. Elena. Elena. Wonder how much they'll like her when I cut her in two!" Katherine grinned and Elijah stumbled to his feet before calling for a guard._

" _No! No, Elijah! Elijah, I'm sorry! Please! Please, don't leave! No one else comes to see me! Please! I won't! I won't hurt anyone! Just don't go! Please! I can't! I can't be all alone! Please! Elijah, I'll be good! PLEASE!" Katherine wailed even as a guard sedated her and her eyes went glassy. "Please," came out weakly and then she went limp._

"Who found her?" Elijah asked but no one answered him.

Jeremy Gilbert's voice rang through as he tried to get to them. "Is there anyone else with you? Is Kol with you?" Elijah called to his brother's friend.

When the word hospital in connection with his brother's whereabouts came out of Jeremy's mouth, Elijah felt his stomach drop. "No!" he cried.

"Hello, Elijah. Funny meeting you here. I've been looking for you all night. Why don't you give me a kiss, lover?" the girl said, pushing her body toward Elijah, causing Jeremy to lose his footing for a second. She took the advantage, yanking out of his grip. Lunging forward, the girl threw herself onto Elijah, knocking his chair over and wrapping her hands around his throat. "You said that you wouldn't leave me alone in there. You said you'd write and call and visit. You're a liar, like all the other boys."

Matt dragged Katherine off him and cuffed her while she continued to taunt Elijah. "Oh, I missed you. I hope we get the same cell. I think we need some alone time."

"Katherine, I did not mean to lead you on," Elijah began, feeling like he might throw up when she began to laugh at him.

"You're such an idiot, Elijah. You're just like all the other boys. They all say they'll remember you. But then they find someone else who comes along," Katherine sneered at Hayley. "Don't worry, he'll find a replacement for you, too."

Elijah wondered how Katherine could possibly know about his feelings for Hayley. Unless she had been watching him, them. For long? Or was it just tonight? Or had someone else been doing the watching for her? How many of these people were there?

"You're really crazy, you know that, right? I'm not with Elijah!" Hayley snapped and Elijah tried not to let his disappoint at the intensity of her words show.

"Aren't you? My bad. Oh, well. Then I guess I shouldn't have told my friends to kill your friend," Katherine shrugged before grinning.

"You had them kill Oliver!" Hayley shouted, Elijah could feel her grief and anger. Wanting to comfort her but knowing that would only encourage Katherine's jealousy.

"No, I was talking about the other one," Katherine replied slowly as she leaned forward and stared at Hayley who looked like she was going to break her chair trying to get to Katherine. "Didn't you know? So sad. He was kind of hot."

Katherine's attention moved back to Elena and Damon for a long time. Elijah became lost in memories of talking to her when she snapped him back into focus. "Time's up," she announced with glee, looking at the clock which read: 2:35 a.m.

Wanting to ask her what she meant, Elijah's question was answered when people began to shout from the front of the Sherriff's station. Katherine moved to get her hands in front of her, revealing Matt's gun as two other hooded figures came to join her. One of the two women focused on Elijah. There you are, little brother. I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time," she told him with a wide smile.

"Who are you?" Elijah asked the woman. But he thought he knew. Somewhere, deep down. Finn would know for sure. However, Finn was not there.

"Don't you recognize the family resemblance?" Katherine taunted him and Elijah shook his head.

"No," he said flatly.

"It's been a long time. You were still growing inside our mother's womb. Another little gift from the Gods," the woman who claimed to be his sister intoned as she smiled down at him.

Damon being Damon made a comment that pissed Elijah's "sister" off. Her attention focused on Damon and then Elena. His "sister" and the other woman began to argue about who got to kill Elena while Katherine returned her attention to Elijah, climbing in his lap and straddling him, running her fingers through his hair.

His "sister" told them they were leaving. "I can sit on someone's lap," Katherine said, focused on Elijah who turned away until she placed Matt's gun under his chin. He would be no use to his siblings with his brains splattered across the ceiling.

Katherine grabbed the link to his handcuffs and the one who was not his "sister" cut him loose. Waiting for Katherine to get up, he rubbed his wrists as they made their way, single-file, out of the Sherriff's station and toward Matt's deputy car. The minute he sat down, Katherine moved to straddle him. Hayley sat down beside them and he noticed the look of disgust on her face before she turned away.

"I really did miss you, Elijah," Katherine said sincerely, pushing their bodies together.

"I'm sure you did," Elijah snapped, he couldn't keep the sarcasm at bay.

Damon decided to enter the conversation. "How do you two know each other?" he inquired.

Katherine gave her side of the story which made Elijah wonder if he really had used her. It did sound pretty terrible from her end. But hearing her threaten to kill her sister upon release sounded much worse.

"Katherine," Elijah did not know what he could say to her and stopped. "Its okay, Elijah. I understand. We all have needs, wants, desires. Maybe you'll get everything you want from her before I shoot her."

Watching in horror, Elijah felt helpless when Katherine placed the gun she had taken from Matt under Hayley's chin…and pulled the trigger… Nothing. Hayley was safe. Alive.

"Sorry. Need to reload," Katherine told them. She tossed the gun into the lap of the other killer who was not his "sister." Elijah's eyes moved to Katherine's hand moving under her shirt and pulling out a switchblade which she placed under Hayley's chin. When she began to kiss Hayley, Elijah felt the same amount of anger as if another man were violating the girl he—he—he refused to put words to this feeling until tomorrow morning.

Elijah's felt his stomach roll again when Katherine caused Hayley's lower lip to bleed. Biting? Really? "Maybe we'll have a threesome. It's on my bucket list," Katherine remarked. So she did not mean to make it out alive. How splendid and how many of them did she intend on taking with her?

When Katherine began to grind against him again, Elijah wished for death. It would be a mercy killing so he did have to deal with his insanity anymore. Hayley began to speak. Her words sounded persuasive to Elijah's ears and he believed that Katherine felt so, too. He decided to join in on the act.

"Katherine, Hayley is right. I could never forget the limited time that we spent together. I've waited for you for so long. Why do you think that I kept those letters for so long? Because I could not bear to part with your memory."

"Oh, Elijah, that would be so sweet if were true. But I'm not an idiot. And by the end of the day you're going to watch me kill your new girlfriend," Katherine said, grabbing Hayley by the hair and back handing her.

"Hey!" Elijah yelled but he stopped when his "sister" turned around and pointed her weapon at his head.

"See! You're just too easy, Elijah. You always show how you feel in the end." Katherine shook her head with a fake frown.

Donavon parked the car in the Grille's parking lot, ending the conversation and refocusing the group's attention on the Grille. Donavon opened the back door and let them in. The killers decided that singing would kill some time and Katherine was first up to the mic with her sister and Hayley in tow. Elijah could not stop staring at Hayley. He felt terrified about what Katherine might do to her.

Then Katherine said the thing that he dreaded but expected her to say. "I'm going to make an exception to our only killing boys this holiday and start with you." She aimed her reloaded gun at Hayley's head.

"Stop!" Elijah yelled at her.

"Why?" Katherine demanded. "What can you do for me that will make me stop?"

"I'll…" Elijah felt at a loss for what to offer to the demented girl.

"Bet she hasn't had sex in a really long time," Damon inserted and Elijah wanted to bludgeon him.

"No. I haven't," Katherine smiled. Looking down at Elijah, "How about you and I change that? Right here and right now?"

Elijah couldn't help but look to Hayley to see what she thought. She nodded and he forced himself to say. "Yes. Of course." He supposed this was what people called "taking one for the team." Most men would not shy from the task of making love to a beautiful woman, even if she was deranged and threatened to kill him and people he cared for mere minutes ago. Katherine took his hand and led him into the office.

Elijah had fantasized about what it would be like to be with Katherine. She made him feel things he had not felt previously at the time they met. Too much schoolwork, not enough socialization left him feeling lonely. And the way she pouted her lips as they spoke or tossed her hair, exposing her long neck.

"Don't get any funny ideas," Katherine said as she set the gun down on the desk. "If I cry out, they'll come in here."

"Really? What if it's not a cry of pain?" Elijah quipped as she moved toward him. Grabbing her, he thrust their bodies together and then lowered her onto the floor.

"So, I'm not the only one who wanted this, I see," Katherine teased, eagerly yanking at his belt. He didn't tell her he wasn't thinking of how she was, really was, but of the girl he had met years ago. He carefully tugged her hoodie off and then her tank top, revealing her new lace bra. She wriggled out of her pants and grinned up at him as he pulled his own shirt off.

"I missed you, Katherine. I am truly sorry for how I treated you," Elijah lied smoothly, watching Katherine's eyes begin to shine with joy. He hated himself for what he planned to do but he had to try. He could not just allow this to go on. Closing his eyes, Elijah pressed his mouth to Katherine's. She opened her mouth for him but he did not press his tongue against hers as she moved hers into his mouth with urgency.

Elijah moved his hands up her slim shoulders, stroking her skin, keeping her calm as his hands moved upward 'til they wrapped around her neck and tried to jerk away but he held her still. Pulling away, Elijah felt bitter tears fill his eyes as Katherine gurgled. "I'm so, so sorry, Katherine," he muttered as he took the hoodie, pressing it down over her face, stopping her from being able to breathe or make a sound as he pressed the fabric into her mouth and nose. He bore down on her slim body while tears ran down his cheek. "I'm sorry. Sorry. Oh, Katherine. So sorry," he groaned when she stopped moving.

For a long moment, Elijah could not move as he continued to cry. Then he heard the sounds of a fight from the main room. Moving to check what was going on, Elijah moved back to the desk and grabbed the gun. On his way to the door, he found the knob to the door twisting and he held up the gun, ready to shoot when Rebekah came in, her face smeared with blood. "You got one, too." She smiled but it wasn't really a smile. More of a knee-jerk reaction. "Glad you're still alive, 'Lijah."

"Let's get out of here," Elijah replied. He came out of the office to find Damon and Donavon tying his "sister" up. The other girl lie on the floor. Well, part of her body lay there. Part lay elsewhere. Elijah felt sick again.

Elena stood with the axe in hand, her face smeared with blood and a swollen black eye on her face told the story. She dropped the axe and hugged Damon, telling him how much she loved him. Elijah's eyes searched for Hayley who stood off to the side, holding her side.

"Hayley? Are you alright?" Elijah called.

Hayley's head snapped up and she ran the length of the room, throwing her arms and legs around Elijah. "You're alive," she said, cupping his face. "You're alive. And you didn't…you know…with you know…to you know?"

"I know. And, no, I didn't," Elijah told her and she grinned before looking in the office. "Don't look," he whispered, turning her away from the sight of Katherine's body. If he had known that Rebekah was coming…but Katherine might have gotten to the gun and killed them both… He would never know.

"You're alive," Hayley said again, burying her face into his shoulder. He nodded, watching Damon kiss his blood covered girlfriend.

"Hayley, there's something I need to tell you," Elijah said.

"Tell me after. We still have over half a day to get through," Hayley said, looking at the clock.

The clock read: 6:47 a.m. "It's almost dawn," Rebekah remarked. "You think they go away during the day?"

"There's no telling," Elijah said, glancing at their other sister who grinned back at him.

Elijah set Hayley on her feet and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She grinned, turning and kissing him on the lips. "Let's get this chick back to the Sherriff's department," Damon called to them, hauling the remaining killer to her feet.

Damon led the way out to Matt's car which was no longer there. "What is going on?"

Sister let out a loud laugh and Elijah gave her a long look. "They always come back," Hayley muttered under her breath. This made Elijah pause.

"I left something. I'll be back," Elijah told the group and went back inside The Grille. Hayley grabbed his hand before he had walked two feet inside.

"You can't go walking around in a horror movie by yourself," Hayley admonished him with a tender look.

"She's right about that," Katherine called out and Elijah felt his heart constrict. "Time in a psych ward teaches you how to fake all kinds of things," she said with a grin before she pulled out a gun. "By the way, I always keep a spare weapon, just in case and then she shot him, twice before fleeing as Donavon came running back in with Rebekah, both ready to fight back. Rebekah shot at Katherine but they couldn't tell if she hit her.

"Let's go. Bekah, you've got a car right?" Hayley shouted, holding Elijah up as best she could. "Elijah, you're going to be fine. Okay? You're not leaving me. Okay? Stay with me! Okay? Okay? Elijah?!"

"Hayley," Elijah began, feeling heady. "I lo—"

Hayley placed two fingers to his lips. "No, you don't get to tell me until tomorrow. Okay? So you're going to stay with me and you're going to tell me tomorrow. Okay!"

Elijah nodded as Donavon and Damon came forward to help him to the car that Rebekah had "confiscated." At some point Elijah lost consciousness. When he awoke, they were back at the hospital. They entered the emergency room to find Liv Parker. Damon went with Liv while Hayley left to find some bandages to cover Elijah's wounds until they could find a "real" doctor although Elijah thought there might not be such a thing.

As he sat in the emergency room, Elijah felt like laughing when Kol, Niklaus, Caroline, Bonnie and Stefan Salvatore entered the ER. Stefan did not seem to be breathing. And Elijah hoped that Damon did not come back to see his brother like that. "Nik!" Rebekah cried. "Oh, God, Stefan! Is he dead?"

"Yes," Kol answered.

"No," Klaus and Caroline snapped at the same time.

"Maybe," Bonnie muttered.

"Elijah," Klaus called.

"Brother," Kol nodded at Elijah with a wide smile. "Nice to see that we Mikaelsons do not seem to have an expiration date."

"Where is Damon?" Elena grumbled.

"Let's go find him," Donavon suggested. "Elijah's family is back. They can look out for him."

"Okay," Elena gave Elijah a look before leaving him with his family who had passed Stefan off to ER workers. Bonnie went to keep an eye on him.

Rebekah sat down and pulled out her phone which had begun to rung. "No, Marcel. Please, don't come. No, everything is fine. I just…No, I don't want to talk today. Just stay out of Mystic Falls. Just trust me. Bloody fool!" She glared at her phone.

"Problems, sister?" Kol inquired with a grin.

"Marcel is coming. I told him not to. But you know him, he'll come because I told him not to and then he'll be just another person to worry about," Rebekah sighed unhappily.

"Hayley's not back yet," Elijah said, gaining his family's attention.

"And? The killer wants to kill boys," Rebekah pointed out.

"Maybe they're going to change their M.O. in the 11th hour," Kol argued.

"Shut up," Rebekah snapped at Kol and then she got up. "I'll just go look for her. Do not come after me. Elijah needs you."

"Oh, goody. Yes, please, do leave all of us boys alone, like sitting ducks," Kol shouted after Rebekah who waved good-bye with her back turned to them.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Klaus looked calm until the doors on the emergency room exploded, glass spewing everywhere as a car rammed through them and Katherine got out.

"Miss me?" Katherine asked them, moving toward them with a machete and who knew or cared where she got it from as Kol and Klaus grabbed Elijah between them and ran for their lives.

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, my lovely readers. We're about to see how this nightmare began and it's not what you would expect. Guest staring: Davina Claire. On with the show…**

Chapter 12: A Trick?

 **31 days 'til Halloween:**

"This is so lame!" Davina Claire commented adjusting her position on the couch. "Come on. All that blood! The girls running around screaming! The guy with the hockey mask? Oh, please! Been done," she rolled her eyes, reaching for the remote to the DVD player.

Kol Mikaelson lunged forward. "No! This a _classic_. It all starts with Jamie Lee Curtis and ends with her in _Halloween_ _2000_ which we will get to later."

"Freddy Krueger is far creepier," Davina complained. "What says freak show like a guy who likes kids? Give me the remote!"

"No, you'll just make me watch _Final_ _Girls_ again!" Kol shouted back, taking the remote and holding it far from her reach. Davina glowered at him, before flinging her much smaller body on top of his, trying to climb him to get it.

"No! No more chick horror!" Kol groaned as her fingers slid up his arm and she surprised him with a kiss. Momentarily distracted, Kol fell back onto the couch, releasing the remote to the girl's grasp. "Fine. You win. One more time with that insipid film. Then we're back to my picks for the night."

"I could put _American_ _Horror_ _Story_ in instead and we can make out," Davina suggested with a grin.

"You're a lusty thing, Davina Claire," Kol said slowly, pulling her to him. "And this is the part in the film where the knife wielding maniac would come and slice us to ribbons."

Davina let out a giggle. "More like Marcel will come early from his date with Rebekah and slice you to ribbons."

"How do you live under these insufferable circumstances?" Kol inquired, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger.

Davina shook her head. "If it weren't for him, I'd have nowhere to go." For a second, their happy pre-Halloween celebration took a somber turn; then Kol thought of how to distract his new girlfriend.

"What would you like to do for Halloween?" Kol asked her.

Davina cocked her head to the side. "Well, I don't know. You're going back home to Mystic Falls next week and I'm stuck here doing nothing with Marcel."

"Then help me plan out how to pull the biggest prank for some time to come on my family and mates this All Hallow's Eve," Kol suggested, kissing her forehead.

The girl looked thoughtful before she grinned evilly. "Well, I was doing some internet research on hypnotism for a class project. And I do need some test subjects…"

"And how will this be frightening?"

"Because we're going to plant in your friends' and family's minds that there's something really awful that's coming for them," Davina explained. "Which won't be too hard since people tend to do creepy and horrible things on Halloween anyway."

"Right. So, I can post some things about and get them all riled up. Elena Gilbert and my big brother, Elijah, will be the most susceptible to this." Rubbing his hands together, Kol's lips spread in a wide, devious smile.

"And we can look up some tips on being able to hypnotize your victims without them even remembering you did it."

"And we can come up with a trigger. A word or a text message. Whatever will trigger the hypnotic state. You will be able to bring us back out, won't you, love?" For the first time, Kol looked a tiny bit worried. What if they were trapped inside their own minds and couldn't get out.

"We'll just think of a safety word," Davina seemed confident that she could do this without any kind of serious repercussions and Kol felt confident in her. They would be perfectly fine in her hands. Or so he hoped.

"This will be the best Halloween to date!" Kol enthused, kissing Davina again and grinning happily. He couldn't wait to see the looks on his friend's and family's faces when they realized that they had been tricked into their scariest Halloween to date.

 **2:45 p.m. Day before Halloween:**

"Shit! How does this thing work again?" Tyler called to Kol who pushed a ladder behind the large oak tree in back of his family's home.

"It works by slipping it around your neck and jumping off the tree limb," Kol called back. He looked up at the tree. Some part of him wondered if the noose really would snap his bloody neck. No, this one worked so it would look like it had chocked the life out of him but did not. According to the company there also happened to be a safety mechanism that he could yank to drop him to the ground. Of course that wouldn't help if he couldn't find it in time. That's why Ty and Jer would be there when he first put it on. Just in case.

This was just part one of Kol's plans to scare the bloody hell out his family for the holiday. Step two were the phone calls. Everyone had received anonymous calls from Davina who had disguised her voice, keeping them on the line just long enough to creep into their minds. Of course, that would never have worked if Kol had not spent precious hours with a wrist watch, lulling them into a tranquil state. The plan might be going too well. Too easy. What if one of them were faking the whole time?

Hypnotizing himself had been the best part and also a little frightening. Kol did not believe himself to be a good candidate for this but he had set up a camera in his bedroom. After, Davina called him and told him to put on his mother's dress and eat a bar of soap, he was convinced. Soon the real fun would begin.

"Earth to Kol, wake up, man," Jeremy cried, rolling his brown eyes. "Where do you want it?" He held up a wicked looking knife, asking Kol where to put it.

"The fake blood bags are here, and here; try not to cut something else. I'm too pretty to die." Kol laughed when his friends groaned. Checking his watch, he sighed. "Let's see. A couple more hours before we can give my family a good fright. Plans, gentleman? Chase some girls about perhaps? I hear that Nik's bird, the lovely Bonnie Bennett and Elena Gilbert are stowed away in the Gilbert home? Shall we crash their celebrations?"

"Nah. I have to deal with my sister enough," Jeremy waved Kol off with a dismissive hand.

"Bekah then. Let's give her and that friend of hers a proper Halloween scare." Before his friends could reply, Kol went inside the house and crept up the stairs. Inside his room, he, Tyler and Jeremy donned a hockey mask, a set of claws with a Kreuger mask plus fedora and one of those masks from the Scream quartet. "Ready?" Kol/Michael Myers asked Tyler/Freddy and Jer/Ghost Face.

"Ready?" Freddy replied.

"Whatever," Michael muttered.

Kol rolled his eyes before pulling the window of his room open. He climbed onto a sturdy branch of the tree outside his bedroom and moved toward Bekah's room. Sliding the window open, soundlessly, he entered, stepping over to the bed and climbing beneath it. Tyler went into the closet while Jeremy moved behind the door which was closed but would hide him from view.

Minutes later the two girls entered, laughing and talking about the party at The Falls that evening. Rebekah dropped something on the bed and then Hayley's ankle came within grabbing distance of Kol's left hand before it moved. Rebekah began to complain about Marcel and wanting to have a fun, uncomplicated night out with a cute guy. Then Hayley's ankle moved back within Kol's reach. He did not hesitate this time.

"Ah!" Hayley screamed when Kol caught her foot in his grasp. "Rebekah, someone has ahold of my ankle!" she yelled, trying to yank free and kick him at the same time when he caught ahold of her other ankle, pulling and then dragging her under the bed with him, laughing as she screamed in terror.

There were more screams as Tyler and Jeremy appeared, going after Rebekah who tried to leave but Jeremey seemed to be blocking the door. "What's your favorite scary movie?" he asked Rebekah while she screamed at him. Then the bed moved and Kol heard Rebekah grunting while Tyler laughed at her.

"Give me a kiss, baby," Tyler cried while Rebekah screamed her bloody head off.

Kol had a hold of Hayley by the waist while she tried to break free and Kol breathed heavily into her ear. "Okay, you pervert, get off of me," Hayley snarled, elbowing him in the ribs.

"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Elijah thundered, flinging the door open. Jeremy yelped in pain and Kol had a feeling his friend just got hit by a door or Elijah's fist.

"Get off of her, Bekah?" their mother cried.

"I will kill you!" Mikael shouted, entering the door.

"Not if I kill them first," Nik joined their parents and older brother in the room while Hayley crawled from beneath the bed.

"Is there another one?" Rebekah demanded, peering beneath the bed. "Come out from there right bloody now! We're going to call the cops. Then you will be quite sorry."

"We already are," Jeremy's voice told them.

Kol climbed from beneath the bed. "Well that could have gone better. But we did give you a good scare, didn't we?" he questioned the girls, pulling off his mask His sister turned to glare at him.

"I should have known this was your stupid idea. God, Kol, if I could return you for a new brother, I would," Rebekah huffed, her cheeks flushing.

"Boys, this was not funny!" Esther Mikaelson placed her hands on her hips while Mikael shook his head.

"Try not to involve your sister next time," Mikael warned them.

"Mikael!" Esther cried, giving her husband a long look.

Mikael smiled. "Dear, it is Halloween. They are young and stupid. Let them have their fun for one night."

Esther shook her head. "Take it outside. I do not want this house damaged."

Leaving the house, Kol clapped his mates on their backs. "That was just the beginning of the entertainment for the night."

Tyler laughed and looked around. "Man, I love Halloween."

 **5:50 Day before Halloween:**

"Here." Kol pointed at the location of the blood bag once more. Jeremy nodded and poked the bag. When Kol did cry out in pain, he slid the tip in until a stain began to erupt on Kol's shirt front. "And here." Jeremy poked the second blood bag and Kol grinned. "Wonderful. Now, for the hard part." He went over to the ladder and began to climb.

Jeremy and Tyler peered up at Kol as he walked along the length of the tree branch. Slipping the noose around his neck, he looked down at his mates. "Okay. Bring the ladder so I can climb down rather than allowing my body weight to snap my bloody neck."

Tyler brought the ladder and Jeremy helped to keep it steady while Kol climbed down and adjusted the noose before feeling comfortable. "Right then. Let's move it away from the ladder a bit and see how I feel. He checked his phone for a time. 5:58. Brilliant. Now he just needed someone in his family to look out the kitchen window and wait for the drama to unfold while he allowed his head to drop to the side. Jeremy and Tyler went off to hide.

Soon enough Elijah was screaming his bloody head off for their parents and the sounds of frantic footsteps came toward him. Kol had to stop himself from laughing. So gullible. Elijah, his mother, father, Nik, Bekah and Hayley were all acting distraught. How wonderful to know they truly cared and only because they thought him dead. He would feel remorse for the horror they would experience later in the day.

"Ha! Had you lot fooled. And, thanks Bex, but I don't want the kind of therapy I'll need if we ever exchange spit," Kol began to laugh. He could hold back his taunts. Watching his father's blood pressure rise just added to Kol's glee.

"I'm going to murder you, Kol!" Mikael roared while Esther placed herself between her son and her enraged husband. Time for a little role-reversal. Mother's turn to play good cop and to pay Father back for his earlier words.

"Mikael, no. It is Halloween. You know that Kol loves this holiday and, yes, he acted rashly but many children are doing so today." Esther turned and gave Kol a wary look which he also found amusing. "Do not frighten us like this again," she warned him. "Or I will not stand between you and your father's fury."

"Yes, Mother," he murmured, bowing his head so she would see the large smile on his face.

"You little wanker!" Rebekah hauled off and smacked Kol on the arm.

"Ouch!" Kol complained, rubbing his arm and then letting out another laugh. "Wait till next year." He could have said "Wait until later tonight. You're in for the ride or your young life" but chose not to. The anticipation was killing him.

"I will kill you myself if you try something like that again," Elijah snapped before turning and walking away. Poor Elijah. Clueless to the horror that he would experience once he became trapped in his own mind. He might very well kill Kol tonight. Who knew?

Left alone by his family plus their tag along, Hayley, Kol turned back to look for Ty and Jer who came out from their hiding places. "Brilliant, yes?" he called to them. They clapped and he bowed for them.

"So, I'm heading home, Lena's talked me into staying in tonight in case the killer strikes," Jeremy said with a fake shiver for them.

"And to flirt with Bonnie Bennett, I suppose," Kol gave Jeremy a mock disappointed look. "Typical. Ditch your mates for a bird." Speaking of birds, his cell chimed. "Sorry. Got to get this," he turned away from his friends to answer Davina's call. "Hello, love."

"Hey. Are you having more fun than I am?" Davina asked him.

"My entire family wants me dead. So, yes, I am having the time of my life, darling, wish you were here with me."

"I wish I were, too," Davina moaned. "But I'm stuck here. Even Josh has got a date tonight while I'm binge watching The Walking Dead."

"Get in a car and come join me for the festivities," Kol told her.

"I wish," Davina sighed. "Marcel would kill me."

"Let him try. You need to help me if things get out-of-hand."

"Sure. Because you can't handle a little chaos." He could see her lovely smile and wanted to kiss her.

"I can. But I would prefer it with you by my side."

"Fine. I'll see what I can do."

Hanging up, Kol returned to Tyler. "Looks like it's just you and me until we get to The Falls."

"Maybe we could get out there early and scare some other girls. Liv's decided to stay in tonight. This is going to kill me. Guess I'll call her later and see if her brothers are out so I can sneak in." His grin made it clear that the idea of being alone with his girlfriend had more appeal that hanging out with Kol. Kol would be insulted but he felt the same way about his own girl.

They took Kol's car to The Falls. Turning on some bloodyminded DJ who warned them about the killer or killers who might be on the loose. Kol smiled to himself, thinking about the flyers he left around town and the website. Yes, people ate it up. Good on them.

He and Tyler got out of the car to find people there already at The Falls five hours prior to midnight. They were drinking, making out, dancing, and yelling. The usual holiday ruckus. The alcohol would make it easier for their subconscious thoughts to become a reality when the time came and Kol could not wait. He just wished he could tape this whole thing when chaos erupted.

The party turned out to be rather lame until his family showed up. So far, Kol had had the pleasure of talking to several drunk girls who wanted to take him home that night but none of them really interested him. And Tyler had had too much to drink. Then Stefan Salvatore came near. The perfect opportunity to tease him about his ill-fated crush on Bekah who would marry Marcel and pop out babies as soon as college commenced. #Boring.

Tyler made it easy by throwing the first barb. "Hey, Stefan! What's up? Trying to get in Rebekah's pants tonight under the full moon?" he howled at the moon and then let out a laugh.

"What's _this_ about?" Kol inquired, coming over and throwing an arm around Tyler's shoulder. "Oh, yes, Bekah's being a strumpet, again, I see. You should be careful. Her new boyfriend could split you in half. He plays football and bench presses men twice your size, mate."

Kol felt gleeful at Stefan's shattered nerves as the comment made impact. Gulping, Stefan forced himself to grin. "What he doesn't know, he can't kill me for," he told the two. Inwardly, Kol chuckled. Yes, indeed. And still, Marcel would beat Stefan senseless if he happened to come looking for Bekah and find her in an embrace with Stefan. Then he and Bekah would have a row before going off to make up.

Choosing to leave Stefan to his ill-advised fate, Kol looked at Tyler and then began to laugh. "Cheers to that!" Kol knocked his empty cup against Stefan's and then stumbled off with Tyler. He made as if he were half as drunk as his mate. But alcohol would just make it harder for him to control his own experience. And where would the fun be in that?

Kol kept checking his phone while Tyler joked with other people and made comments about Liv, his girlfriend, and how lame it was that she couldn't be there. Having had enough, Kol excused himself to call his own girlfriend. "Davina, darling, are you ready?"

Davina laughed. "Yeah. And, hey, I'm on my way. It turns out that Marcel wants to check on Rebekah, make sure she's not having too much fun without him. And I guess they had another argument so he's going all roses and chocolates. This is Halloween. Not Valentine's. Get her a bloody pumpkin and scare the hell out her. That would be much more fun."

"Where is the grumpy one?" Kol inquired.

"In a gas station, paying for the fill-up," Davina groaned. "He's driving like someone's grandmother. By the rate we're going at, we'll be there by 11 p.m. tomorrow."

"Hopefully not. Talk to you again soon. Bye, love." Hanging up, Kol turned back to the partygoers. Soon it would begin. Only five minutes left before chaos descended on the party. His lips curved into a smile and Kol looked at his cell as the witching hour began and his cell, along with everyone else at the party's rang with a text. One word message that could not be confused with anything else: _Incipere_. In Latin, it simply meant: begin. Then a scream cut through the air.

Kol would have smiled at the sound. Just a little bit of theatrics, if he remembered the plan or anything leading up to the following events, but he didn't, his memory had been wiped clean.

He looked around for Tyler. "Someone's got into the Halloween spirit," he told his mate who nodded in a drunken haze of amusement. Unlike the others, Kol did not feel interested in someone else's sub-par Halloween prank. Instead he figured they could beat the crowd back home and put the fear of God into Jer.

"Let's go," he called to Tyler who followed him back to the parking lot. Kol flipped the radio on and the listened to oldies but goodies like the Monster Mash on the way back. Looking back at his phone, he found he had forgotten to charge the battery. No matter. He'd do it later. It's not exactly like he expected a call. Davina was stuck back in New Orleans. And his siblings or parents could talk to him when he got home.

They parked outside Jer's and Kol got out, rounding the car to find more fake blood bags in the trunk. He slid one beneath his clean, white t-shirt and then grabbed the butcher knife that Jeremy had used on him earlier. He poked at the new blood bags, watching them make a mess of him.

"So you go inside and talk to Jer and then come get me. I'll be waiting outside the door, in agony, mate." Kol grinned at Tyler who nodded before stumbling to the door.

Kol took his time waiting for them before he went to the back door with his life-threating injuries. Taking his fingers, he added a nasty scratch to his face, cursing when he drew blood. "Hope that doesn't leave a scar," he muttered to himself. When he heard voices coming his way, Kol lay down in front of the door.

Liv Parker opened it, her messy curls spilling over her face as she bent down to check on Kol. She dropped the baseball bat she held and said "Shit."

In spite of his drunkenness Tyler played his part. "Kol!"

"Help me!" Kol cried to his friends. They led him to the Gilbert's couch and Liv lifted his shirt and found the blood bags. He couldn't help but laugh as she lifted her wide blue eyes to glare into his brown ones.

"That is not funny," Liv fumed.

"The party was lame. So we thought we'd come here and give you a good scare. Fortunately, it wasn't just Jeremy. And this is going on YouTube," Kol announced as he punched buttons on his phone. He knew this would be a hit.

"You're both a couple of assholes," Liv snarled as she got to her feet. "I'm going back home. I hope you three enjoy it when you're suffering from real stab wounds and no one does anything about it."

Jeremy decided to choose this moment to announce his sister's prank on him. Sure. Ollie Kenner was dead. More like drunk. Kol rolled his eyes. "Yeah, mate. I think your sister was trying to play a prank on you. Hold on. My phone is ringing. Yes? Hello?" he called into the phone. He lifted the phone with a shrug before placing it to his ear again. "Hello? Father? Dad?" Kol's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the others. His father did not reply but someone else did. An unfamiliar someone else.

"Knock. Knock," a voice called and Jeremy felt his stomach drop as Kol pulled the phone away because the person was yelling. "I said knock, knock," the voice yelled and then laughed.

"Who is there?" Tyler answered, playing along although Kol wished he wouldn't but did not know why.

"I killed your daddy and I'm coming for you," the voice sang.

Kol curled his fist. Pranks were his venue and this idiot had no idea who they were bloody well messing with here. "Look, the joke is over. So, you can stop now." His voice was shaking as he spoke.

After a moment the voice replied. "Oh, wait. Not dead. So sad. Want to talk to Kol? Yes? Okay. I think I can honor a last request."

"Kol?" Mikael's voice called through the phone.

"Yes, Dad?" Kol looked like he was going to cry now.

"Kol, I'm sorr-" Kol listened feeling sick because his father never got to finish. The end of his sentence came out as a choked gurgle.

"DAD!" Kol shouted into the phone. What the hell was going on? When had his favorite holiday become a living nightmare?

The voice came back on the line. "Sorry, I cut off daddy's head. Now, it's your turn!"

The line went dead and Kol could only stare at his phone from its place on the floor. Who would be that cruel? To call a son and to make him listen to the death of his own farther. Sure, they did not always see eye-to-eye and Mikael had threatened to kill him but this was his father… Was his father…

When another maniac entered the home, they fled. Kol could not think straight but he did know he wanted to live. If only to avenge his father's death. Liv had pulled out her phone and was trying to call her older brother as they got into his car and he hit the accelerator but his blasted car chose this time to act up.

"Kol, we need to go!" Liv screamed at him. He knew she felt afraid but so did he.

"I'm trying but the car won't start!" Kol screamed back at her. He was trying to get the car to start but it wouldn't move. Bloody auto body shop. Kol would have to learn how to fix a bloody car.

"Okay. Plan B. Who else has a car?" Liv asked them and they all looked at each other.

"Kol was my ride," Tyler reminded them and Kol wanted to smack him. He felt bad enough that his precious baby was failing him tonight, of all nights.

Liv seemed to be of the opinion that beating the living shit out of the blasted woman who wanted them dead and Kol agreed as they got out of the car.

When Liv gave the woman her second beating of the night, Tyler spoke to Kol. "While she's out, you want to try the car again?" He went ahead and got behind the wheel. The engine started up and they sighed in relief. Kol would have kissed the steering wheel but fleeing for their lives seemed like the best option for now. "What do we do with her?" he asked, looking at the girl who had tried to kill them mere minutes ago.

"We can take her to the Sheriff's station," Jeremy suggested.

"Great plan, mate. Load her in the trunk," Kol told them. He would have agreed if Jer had suggested they wrap her chains and dump her into the quarry at The Falls.

They made their way to the Sherriff's station and the minute they lifted the hood of the trunk, the woman slashed Kol's arm. The pain made him snarl and he wished he had Liv's baseball bat. He would teach this one some manners.

Tyler helped him into the backseat and Liv got back into the car, handing Tyler her hoodie so Kol could attempt to staunch the bleeding. Kol's head fell back against the backseat on the way to the hospital. He loved horror movies. He wasn't so sure that he loved living through one.

When they arrived inside the ER, Bonnie Bennett already stood there looking frightened and had blood on her clothes. She looked like she might have had a run-in of her own. A nurse came over and led him to a gurney, asking him to sit down and to remove Liv's hoodie from his wound. "Oh, dear. We've had a lot of odd injuries tonight. But that's Halloween for you."

Hearing Bonnie ask where he was, Kol called to her. "I'm over here, love," he called, lifting his good hand and beckoning her to his side. It would be nice to have a familiar face with him while he was stitched up.

"Kol," she whispered as he slipped an arm around her while a nurse checked his head wound. "You're okay?"

Kol opened his mouth to reply but the nurse beat him to it. "He'll live. As long as he's careful for the next couple of days. He should make a full recovery," the nurse said.

"Perhaps I can get out of a few exams this week," Kol said with a grin, winking at Bonnie who smiled back. "Haven't seen my siblings, have you?" This night drew longer as the hours passed and all he wanted was his family reunited, what was left of them anyway.

"I saw Rebekah," Bonnie told him. He ignored the darkening of her eyes when she spoke his sister's name. Allowing himself to wonder what that look meant would lead to maddening thoughts best not voiced.

"Good. Good. What about the boys? Seen any of them lately?" Kol inquired, hopping off the gurney.

"No," Bonnie said, shaking her head.

Of course his brothers were unaccounted for. It was the males of the species these killers were aiming to get. "Damn. Afraid you might say that. Well, there is no time like the present to go looking for them, is there?" Kol told her.

Bonnie nodded. "I heard there's something crazy going on at the Sherriff's station. Some of them might be there," she suggested.

Bonnie's plan sounded better than sitting around this blasted hospital and being useless while his family faced mortal danger. "Good enough plan for me." They headed out of the hospital and got into Bonnie's car. On the ride to the Sherriff's station Kol felt the increasing urge to sleep. His eyelids grew heavier the longer he sat in the peaceful car 'til Bonnie began to yell at him.

"Kol, wake up!" Sitting bolt upright in the passenger seat, Kol blinked furiously before he focused on the car on the side of the road. His father's. Perhaps he was okay after all. Just hurt. Needing help. If there were a chance…

Opening the door, Kol rounded it, "Father!" he shouted in case Mikael would hear him and know he had come to save him after all. Bonnie called after him but it was too late. He saw the body and bent over as a wave of nausea over took him.

"Oh, God! Oh, no!" Kol moaned. After a long moment, he made his way back to Bonnie's car and called Rebekah. "Bekah, pick up the blasted phone!" he shouted before throwing it on the floor. "Damn it!" he yelled, clutching his head. Rebekah did not pick up and he could no longer contain his fears. They spilled outward while he stared out the windshield. His whole family was dead. He would carry their memories with him and his own lack of ability to save them. The guilt would kill him.

Bonnie mentioned something about going back to the hospital and Kol just sat. He did not care where they went anymore.

When they reached the hospital again, Kol felt his heart leap, relief pouring through him. Nik. Nik was alive. Maybe barely. Still. There was hope once more.

"Kol!" Nik shouted to him. Getting out of the car, he ran toward his older brother, hugging him tightly, hoping he wasn't causing him further injury but needing to feel his solidity, to know for sure that Nik was not a phantom.

"Nik!" Kol got out of the car and hugged his brother before he helped Tyler help Klaus into the back of the car. "What happened to you?"

"Crazy doctor," Klaus told him with a grin before he noted the bandage around Kol's arm. "And you?"

"Crazy home invader. Not our home though. Not as far as I know. Have you been able to call Elijah or Bekah? I've been trying but they're not answering. Or at least not in the last three hours." Kol was saying. Removing his phone, he began to dial a number. "Yes, Rebekah's still going straight to voicemail. And Father is dead," he noted.

Klaus' eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean that Father is dead?"

Bonnie continued the story once Klaus settled inside the back of the car. Kol felt so relieved that at least one of his siblings was by side. Now they just had to find Bekah and 'Lijah.

Kol only focused again when Stefan tried to call Damon and got a nasty surprise. They would have gone in search of Elijah if it weren't for Stefan trying to die on them in the backseat. Kol would have taken Bonnie's car to the bloody Grille to help Elijah but he knew that splitting up would mean certain death. So he stayed with the group.

Re-entering the ER, Kol found Elijah, Rebekah, Elena, a worse-for-wear Caroline Forbes and Matt bloody Donavon. Klaus hurried over to check on Caroline who smiled up at him. "Hi," she said.

Rebekah being Rebekah concerned herself with first Nik and then her two minute fling, Stefan. "Is he dead?"

"Yes," Kol said. He couldn't help it. He just wanted to get a rise out of her.

"Brother," Kol nodded at Elijah with a wide smile. "Nice to see that we Mikaelsons do not seem to have an expiration date."

Elijah offered him an answering smile. But he was not able to speak because everyone else had to keep speaking over each other.

"Let's go find him," Donavon suggested. "Elijah's family is back. They can look out for him."

Rebekah sat down and pulled out her phone which had begun to rung. "No, Marcel. Please, don't come. No, everything is fine. I just…No, I don't want to talk today. Just stay out of Mystic Falls. Just trust me. Bloody fool!" She glared at her phone.

"Problems, sister?" Kol inquired with a grin. For a moment it felt like any other night and teasing his sister felt so natural and comforting.

"Marcel is coming. I told him not to. But you know him, he'll come because I told him not to and then he'll be just another person to worry about," Rebekah sighed unhappily.

"Hayley's not back yet," Elijah said, gaining his family's attention. Kol stifled his "And who bloody well cares?"

"And? The killer wants to kill boys," Rebekah pointed out.

"Maybe they're going to change their M.O. in the 11th hour," Kol argued. It was entirely possible. Why couldn't they see that?

"Shut up," Rebekah snapped at Kol. He could see his words had rattled her and she got to her feet. "I'll just go look for her. Do not come after me. Elijah needs you."

"Oh, goody. Yes, please, do leave all of us boys alone, like sitting ducks," Kol shouted after Rebekah who waved good-bye with her back turned to them. Unbelievable. Choosing her friend over her bloody family.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Klaus looked calm until the doors on the emergency room exploded, glass spewing everywhere as a car rammed through them and Katherine got out.

"Miss me?" the girl who had stabbed Kol asked them, moving toward them with a machete and who knew or cared where she got it from as Kol and Klaus grabbed Elijah between them and ran for their lives.

"Where are we going?" Kol demanded when they entered the stairwell.

"The basement," Klaus snapped, looking irritable.

"And nothing bad ever happens in basements? Night on bloody Elm Street anyone?" Kol demanded of Nik who rolled his eyes. He could be so bloody stubborn sometimes. Caroline followed behind them.

"We should get some adrenaline shots. That's what Hayley was trying to do earlier and I thought she was being so stupid. But she's right, we need a boost. We're all injured and our numbers are dwindling. Who knows how many of our friends are dead at this point?" she inquired.

Nik looked at his girlfriend. "Caroline is right. Kol, take Elijah to the basement. We'll meet you there."

"No, we do not split up. That is how we die!" Kol hissed, hearing a door clang open. They hurried away with Caroline in the lead followed by Kol and Nik with Elijah between them still.

Caroline found the room with the drugs quickly enough and was in and out in less than two minutes. They moved back into the stairwell and Elijah groaned with each step. "Leave me," he moaned.

"No," Kol and Nik said at the same time.

Arriving outside the door to the basement, they slipped inside and lowered Elijah to the floor. Caroline took a needle and injected herself. Kol took the one she offered him and winced. He never liked the bloody things. Nik rolled his eyes, took Kol's needle and shoved it in his arm before pushing the adrenaline. For a moment, nothing happened and then Kol felt the stuff coursing through his veins and making his heart pound in his chest. "Brilliant," he muttered as Nik gave Elijah the last shot.

Soon Elijah got to his feet although he looked horribly pale from blood loss. He needed help and soon.

"Now what?" Nik echoed Kol's thoughts. Then the door slammed open and two more people joined them.

Liv and Damon looked terrified. "She's coming!" Liv warned them. "She killed Tyler!"

"Who killed Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"That crazy doctor!" Liv told them, tears shining in her eyes. "What did he ever do to her? He didn't even know her."

"We need to go," Kol cried. "Come on. Let's go!"

"Caroline, where is Elena?" Damon focused on Caroline, ignoring Kol completely.

Kol gritted his teeth when his phone begun to buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, Kol looked at the screen: Davina. Since everyone else wanted to wait around to see if they would be killed so Damon could find out where Elena was, he would take this call. "Davina, darling, this is not the best time," he told her.

"Kol, are you okay? I've tried to call you for hours but every time I try to get through, your phone is busy."

"We're in a bit of a spot, Davina. In case I don't make it out, I love you," Kol told her sincerely.

"Kol, do you remember what's going on?" Davina's voice sounded off.

"Darling, I'm sorry, I really must go—" Kol began when Davina cut him off.

"Kol, you're in a hypnotic state. Whatever you think you're experiencing. It's not real. You can control it. Okay? Just be careful because people have died from being scared to death. It's not a joke!"

"Davina, this is not the time for a joke, love. We're being chased by a mad woman."

"But it's in your head. It's not real!" Davina shouted at him and he heard Marcel saying something in the background. "You need to hurry. They need our help! I know! I'm sorry! It seemed funny at the time! I'm sorry!" Davina's voice sounded farther away and she and Marcel argued; then she came back on the line. "Kol, it's a world that you and your friends are making; you can change it."

Kol nodded. "Right. Thanks for that. Okay. I'm hanging up. Give me a ring when you arrive." Hanging up, Kol looked at the door. "Everyone, remember _Nightmare_. Think of this like the film. We're in our own bloody heads. Now, think together and we'll get through this."

"What in the hell are you going on about?" Damon snapped at Kol.

"Everyone, think of Elena. Right…now!" Kol yelled at them and then Elena came running through the door.

"Oh, thank God!" Damon sighed, grabbing his girlfriend, lifting her off her feet.

"How did I get here?" Elena inquired, looking around her. "I was on the third floor, looking for you," she told Damon. "And then I'm coming through the door to the basement."

"We're all in a hypnotic state," Kol explained. "Don't ask me how right now, just believe me and we'll get through this, together."

"Alright," Elijah said, clapping Kol on the shoulder.

"Home. Imagine we're all at home," Kol said.

"At our homes or at your home?" Caroline asked.

"Mine," Kol told her.

"Right," Klaus rolled his eyes.

"On the count of three," Kol told them. "Close your eyes and—"

"—tap your ruby shoes together," Damon finished while Kol sneered back at him.

"One," Elijah began.

"Two," Nik said.

"Three," Kol finished.

And then they opened their eyes to find themselves in the front yard of the Mikaelson family home. Kol went over to the door and pushed it open. "Mother?" he called and Esther came running. She had some nasty cuts and bruises but she was alive. "Mother!"

"Kol. Niklaus. Elijah! Where is Rebekah? Where is your father?" she asked them, tears running down her cheeks as she hugged each of her sons.

"They're?" Kol began and then thought better of it. "They're on their way. They should be pulling up any second," he told his mother, looking at his family and friends. They all nodded and then a car door slammed. Kol left the house first to be greeted by Rebekah's body slamming into his. "Kol, how am I here? And how is father alive? He was…"

"Just fine," Elijah finished for her as their Father came toward them and hugged each of them.

"I've been looking for you three half the bloody night," Mikael complained. "Esther, what happened to you?"

"There was a woman," Esther now looked confused. "I think there was…"

"They're forgetting," Kol told the others.

"People tend to do that in times of crisis," Damon added.

"What about Tyler?" Liv whimpered. "And Kai?"

"What about Tyler?" Tyler asked, coming across the lawn. "You know, I just had the weirdest dream."

"Tyler!" Liv cried out, running to him and hugging him tightly.

Liv's phone began to beep. "Hey, Bonnie. He is," she said with a laugh. "Kai's awake. He wants to know when the party ended."

"What about Hayley?" Elijah demanded.

"Hey, guys. Look who I found just wandering the streets?" Hayley called to them from the sidewalk. Jackson and Oliver were elbowing each other and arguing about something as Hayley made her way over to Elijah and kissed him. "I love you."

"You said we had to wait until after," Elijah replied.

"It feels like after," Hayley replied.

"Stefan?" Damon looked around and then he let out a sigh when Stefan came out of the house.

"I think I came here and fell asleep. How weird is that?" Stefan asked, yawning and rubbing his head.

"So…where are the killers?" Caroline asked quietly, leaning into Klaus and looking worried.

"I don't know," Kol replied, looking around. He half expected them to appear like the others. "Perhaps our desire for them to not be here is what's keeping them at bay."

"Maybe," Damon did not look so sure as he held Elena close to him. "We should get inside. It looks like there's a storm coming."

Kol looked at the darkening sky. He hated to admit it but it did look rather ominous. Looking around, he followed the others inside the house and locked the doors behind him. He thought he saw a glimpse of a black hood across the street but was not entirely sure. "Who would like to watch the _Saw_ series?"

"No!" everyone else yelled.

 **We're almost at the end but we've got a few more twists and explanations to go before we're done. Look forward to the last chapter on Halloween Monday.**

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, my lovely readers. It has one hell of a long and crazy ride and now we are done…for now. Enjoy the last chapter. On with the show!**

Chapter 13: Is it Over?

Elena Gilbert sat on a couch in the Mikaelson living room. She, like her friends, and brother, Jeremy, were still trying to wrap their minds around Kol's revelation. How could he do this to them? Had he even been thinking when he and his girlfriend had decided to pull this idiotic stunt? Damon felt even more furious than Elena and had spent an hour yelling at Kol and Davina. At least they knew this wasn't real. She hoped…

Mikael Mikaelson seemed to be at a loss. He brought them snacks and caffeinated drinks. Caroline found some Disney films to watch, anything that would not shatter the nerves of those who remembered the nightmare of the past twelve plus hours. Damon passed a bag of popcorn to Elena who passed it to Klaus who sat in front of her with Caroline and Rebekah.

Kol kept tapping his knees anxiously while peering at the windows. "What is taking so long?" he muttered under his breath at one point.

"What was that, Kol?" Hayley Marshall asked, coming in from the kitchen with a mug of tea for Elijah. She patted Jackson's arm and ruffled Oliver's hair before sitting beside Elijah on the couch across from the one Elena sat on with Damon.

"Nothing," Kol muttered, peering at the window again.

"You okay man; you seemed spooked." Tyler did not seem to remember what had happened that night and wanted to know why they were stuck watching animated Princesses. "This is lame."

"It's better than being in ten pieces," Liv snapped at him before kissing him.

"Can the PDA. I already feel like puking," Damon snapped. "Hey, Papa Mikaelson, got any more?" he asked, shaking his empty Coke bottle at Mikael.

"No. And, please, do refrain from calling me that, Damon." Mikael Mikaelson gave Damon a withering look before going back to the kitchen to check on his wife. Esther Mikaelson seemed to have had an encounter with a home invader but did not want to go to the hospital because when Mikael mentioned it to his children they all screamed "NO!"

"Anybody up for a drink and snack run?" Damon asked, getting to his feet and yawning.

"You're not going out there by yourself," Elena snapped.

"You're damned right," Klaus added.

Stefan looked confused but got to his feet. "I'll come with."

"We all go together," Rebekah stated, her tone commanding.

"Who died and made her boss?" Tyler inquired and Liv punched him in the arm. Jeremy grinned and got up.

Kol simply stared at the window. "Come on, Kol, you're not staying here. We need our rules guy." Hayley cracked a smile while she and Elijah yanked Kol up from his post.

"I don't feel well. I'd like to stay behind. Mother and Father need someone to… They might need something," Kol argued, trying to pull away.

"What, are you scared of going out on Halloween night, Kol, you want to stay home and watch Belle dancing around and singing?" Tyler teased with a laugh.

Jeremy rolled his eyes because he remembered and kind of got why Kol was freaked out. But they really didn't know what was going on yet and until they did, it would be best if they stuck together. "I'll protect you from the boogey man," he said with a grin.

Kol gave him a withering look. "Like I need your help. I can bloody well take care of myself." Shrugging off Elijah and Hayley, he moved to walk out the door but held back while the others went ahead. Elena found his behavior suspicious but did not know why.

They took three cars to the local grocery store. And Caroline decided to talk Mikael and Esther into coming with them without explaining why. Let them think they were strapped for cash.

Damon and Elena held hands while they walked down the frozen food aisle. "Coffee ice cream?" Caroline inquired, holding up a carton.

"At least five cartons with as many people as we have," Damon called.

Klaus pulled out cartons of ice cream, handing them to Caroline who placed them inside a cart.

"Mini pizzas," Tyler said and everyone looked at him. "I thought we were looking for snacks."

"We are," Liv reassured him, giving the others looks. They knew she did not want to remind Tyler of what he'd been through.

Elijah came from another aisle with bottles of pop and Red Bulls. "Mountain Dew?" Hayley called, holding up two two-liter bottles. "We'll never sleep again. But who wants to anyway?"

"Me," Oliver said, yawning and holding up a hand as he leaned against the cart Elijah was driving. Jackson also looked half awake.

Caroline shook her head. "Trust me. The last thing you want is to sleep right now. Let's go see what other goodies we can find. Elena, Hayley, want to come with me?"

Elena kissed Damon on the cheek. "Where are we going?" she asked Caroline. "Getting something to help us stay wake," Caroline said, giving Hayley a look like they had a secret and Elena wondered when they had gotten so close. She figured that Caroline would tell her later.

"No-doze?" Caroline queried, glancing from Elena to Hayley.

"Sure," Hayley nodded.

"What are you girls doing?" Mikael demanded, coming down the aisle.

Elena quickly grabbed a handful of Midol. "Really bad cramps, Mr. Mikaelson," she groaned.

"Oh. Sorry." His cheeks flared red. "Well, Bekah says that chamomile tea helps, too. Would you girls like me to pick up some?"

"Yes. Thank you, daddy," Rebekah cried from behind him, startling him.

"You're welcome, darling," Mikael slid an arm around her shoulders, kissing the side of her head and then leaving them alone.

Hayley grabbed some bottles of No-Doze and tossed them in the cart. Elena threw the Midol in, too. "Lots of caffeine in those puppies."

"You think the guys will take Midol?" Caroline asked with a giggle.

"If it will keep us awake, then I will take anything," Kol remarked, coming down the aisle and looking at the stock.

Elena looked at Kol. "How did you know what was going on?" she asked. Damon had filled her in during the film festival at the Mikaelson's.

"What?" Kol tried to look innocent.

Rebekah came to stand beside her brother. "It has been a truly wretched night. Let's not begin accusing each other. Our brains have created enough paranoid delusions. Let's just get what we need and go home. Shall we?"

Elena gave Kol a long look and he turned his back on her, walking away. Yup. He was hiding something alright.

"You okay, Lena?" Caroline asked, wrapping an arm around Elena's shoulders and giving her a cheery smile.

"Yeah. I think Kol's hiding something from us," Elena whispered.

"Ya think?" Hayley interrupted, coming closer and looking from the brunette to the blonde. "He's definitely got something to hide. We should pull him aside and get Elijah and Klaus to drag it out of him. One way, or the other."

Caroline nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

They met up with the main group to find that Tyler had talked them into getting enough snacks to feed the group who had been at The Falls earlier in the day. "Seriously? Who's going to eat all this food?" Caroline asked.

Klaus, Kol, Tyler, Jeremey, Stefan, Jackson and Oliver held up their hands. "Us," the guys told them.

"Seriously," Caroline moaned, rolling her eyes.

"You get the drunk munchies, Blondie," Damon pointed out as Elena went over to hug him.

Caroline sneered at Damon before turning to Klaus who looked exhausted. Elena felt bad for her friends. Maybe when they got back to the house they should take turns taking naps. Heading to the check-out aisle, Elena would have mentioned the idea but Kol moved away from the group to take a call, drawing her attention. She traded looks with Caroline and Hayley.

"What's going on?" Damon whispered.

"Hmmm." Elena gave him an innocent look.

"You, Blondie and Anger Issues are up to something, what's up?"

"Nothing. I swear." Elena smiled up at Damon who narrowed his eyes at her.

Giving up, Elena took Damon by the hand, leading him away from the main group. "Kol's done something. I don't know what. But he's been acting funny. And you told me he said something about all of us being hypnotized."

"Yeah," Damon nodded, glancing in Kol's direction. "Still seems off to me. Like the cheese in the back of the fridge or Stefan's socks."

"Focus, Damon, why would Kol know this and no one else?" Elena demanded quietly, giving Kol another side-long glance.

"Beats me," Damon replied and then he frowned. "You want to ask him some questions?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Elena replied.

"Fine. Klaus and I can get him to open up." Damon gave her a reassuring smile before taking her hand and leading back to their friends who were ready to go. They got into the back of a car driven by Mr. Mikaelson. Klaus and Caroline were squeezed in the back with them and Kol rode up front with his father.

When they arrived back at the Mikaelson house, Elena and Caroline saw Bonnie waiting for them with Kai. "Bonnie!" Elena and Caroline cried, getting out of the back. Caroline scrambled over Damon's legs to get to her friend while Damon complained about boundaries. "Says the guy who has none," Caroline shot back.

Bonnie began to cry as Elena and Caroline pulled her into a group hug. Elena heard the sound of Liv running up the driveway and yelling her brother's name. "I'm so happy you guys made it out okay," Bonnie was saying as they hugged. "This whole night has been crazy."

"Liv, what is going on with you?" Kai Parker was asking his little sister who could not stop crying.

"He doesn't remember a thing," Bonnie whispered to their friends.

"I know. It's freaky. Right?" Caroline asked Bonnie who nodded. "Tyler, Stefan, Mr. Mikaelson, Jackson and Oliver don't remember a thing. If only we could all have our memories of this night wiped clean."

"Yeah," Elena wasn't sure she wanted to forget yet. They were feeling like there was more to come wouldn't leave. Not yet.

Damon came over to them with Klaus. "Time to go inside and see how long we can live the Day that Won't End." He tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace.

"Right." Elena nodded and followed Caroline inside the house.

When they were all inside, Kol locked the door behind them, peering out the window again. He jumped when he turned to find Elena, arms crossed over her chest. "Kol, what's going on?" she snapped.

"I have an idea," Kol snapped back. "If you will excuse me. There are three Red Bulls and a bowl of coffee ice cream with my name on them."

"Not so fast, mister," Caroline came to stand beside Elena with Hayley. Elijah, Klaus, Damon and Rebekah came to join them.

"Are you all mad?" Kol questioned them, looking at each of them. "I just want to stay awake. Now, get out of my way." Kol tried to push his way past but Klaus caught him by the shirt collar.

"Not so fast, Kol. We're going to have a chat in my room," Klaus hauled Kol behind him and up the stairs. Their parents gave them looks but did not argue.

"I did not do anything!" Kol kept saying when Klaus flung him into a chair and Damon stood in front of him. "You've all lost your bloody minds."

"You're the only one who knows what's happening to us," Hayley reminded him. "The only one. So try a different lie."

"Alright," Kol rolled his eyes. "Fine. I did it. It was supposed to be a prank. Right? A bit of fun. You'd all laugh about it tomorrow. But then… I don't know. I lost control. I probably shouldn't have hypnotized myself, too."

"You did what?" Elijah demanded, seething. "Kol, you have done some awfully stupid things in your time, but this…"

"It wasn't supposed to spin so bloody out of control. And I don't even know what is going on anymore," Kol moaned, shaking his head.

"Well, you had better figure it out before anyone else gets hurt," Rebekah snarled before leaving the room.

Kol looked miserable when his phone went off again. He didn't try to answer it. "Who have you been talking to all night?" Elena asked him.

"No one!" Kol yelled.

"Really?" Damon leaned over, shoving his hand into Kol's pants and digging his phone out. "Is no one's name Davina?"

"Davina?" Klaus uttered, looking confused.

"Who's Davina?" Caroline asked her boyfriend with a look of suspicion and Elena rolled her eyes. This was not the time to get jealous.

"Davina Claire. She lives with Rebekah's boyfriend, Marcel. Her parents are jerks and she had nowhere to go. And she's seventeen. Kol you're involved with a seventeen-year-old?" Hayley gave him a look.

"We're not having sex and she'll be eighteen in a month. That's not the point," Kol got to his feet when the doorbell rang downstairs. Everyone tensed and Kol forced his way out of the room and down the stairs. Mikael had his hand on the doorknob, about to pull it open when Kol yelled "No! Don't Answer the door!" Of course, it was too late.

Kol dropped to the stair he stood on when he caught sight of Davina entering with Marcel Gerard. "Who are you two?" Mikael demanded, blocking the door.

"Daddy, that is my boyfriend," Rebekah exclaimed. "And this is Davina."

"Kol!" Davina called to Kol who came down to get her.

Mikael moved with a confused look on his face but he held his hand out to Marcel. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mikaelson," Marcel was saying when Davina crashed into Kol's arms.

"You're okay?" Davina was asking, checking Kol for injuries while Elena and Damon traded looks.

"And that would be the other guilty party," Damon said loudly, gaining Kol's and Davina's attention.

"Guilty? Of what, pray tell?" Esther asked wearily, coming out of the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee.

"They hypnotized all of us into thinking that we were being terrorized by a bunch of deranged lunatics!" Damon shouted, pointing at Kol and his teenage girlfriend.

"That's not true," Kol shook his head while the others came out from the living room and stared at him. "That's not entirely true. Come on. Let's go into the living room and Davina and I will explain everything," he told them, moving into the living room.

"I think we're going to need snacks for this," Tyler commented. He and Liv went into the kitchen.

Kol and Davina talked in hushed whispers while they waited and the others could only sit, watching them with disapproval. When Tyler and Liv came back with bowls of popcorn and a tray of caffeinated drinks, Kol began to talk. "It all started out as a joke—"

"It wasn't very funny," Elijah interrupted.

"Yes, well, I see that now," Kol snapped at his older brother.

Davina cut in. "We had no idea how it worked. It's really the internet's fault. They talk about all kinds of things you can try at home but you really, really shouldn't."

"Right," Klaus gave a dry laugh in response.

Kol began again. "As I was saying, we meant this to be a bit of Halloween fun. But where these killers came from… I have no idea. It must be some kind of… I don't know what."

"Mass hysteria. We've created a group hallucination. While in the hypnotic state we're all susceptible to suggestion. When one of us sees something, we then cause the group to see the same thing." Elijah's theory made sense. Then again, that could also be part of the hallucination. "It may also have something to do with memories that we have stored away in our subconscious that we were not aware of having."

"Really? So the monsters are real? Or were at some point?" Damon looked less than pleased at the thought. "But I've never seen any of these people in my life. Come on, man, try again. Elena doesn't even have a twin sister. And you don't have another sister. Who the hell knows where those other two chicks came from—"

Caroline suddenly gasped, looking at Klaus. "But the doctor, Cami, she did exist, until a year ago…" Trailing off, a tear ran down her cheek and she looked at her feet.

Klaus took Caroline's hand while the others looked at them. "Caroline and I were having another row. I went to New Orleans to visit Rebekah."

"I remember," Rebekah said, nodding. "You said you met a woman at a café who reminded you of Caroline and you got to chatting her up."

"Yes," Klaus looked at Caroline who squeezed his hand. "I met her. We had coffee. It brought me comfort, talking to someone who was like Caroline, but not her. I asked her to meet me again the next day."

"But then I called him. And we talked all night long. I said I was sorry and Klaus said he was sorry. And he agreed to come back home." Caroline shook her head, still crying.

"Feeling excited to get home, it did not occur to me to text Cami and tell her I would not be coming the next day. She was sitting at the café, at the same table we'd sat at the day before when someone fell asleep at the wheel and ran into her table. She died instantly."

"Oh, my God," Elena put her hand to her mouth.

"That wasn't your fault, Nik," Rebekah whispered, placing her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"No. But it certainly felt like it was," Klaus told them. "I think for a long time I felt like it should have been me sitting at that table, being stood up and then crushed to death."

"Okay. Well, that explains one of our four ladies. But what about the other three?" Damon asked them. "Anyone else do anything they feel badly enough about to make up for people trying to kill them?"

No one held up their hands. Then Stefan's rose. "Seriously?" Caroline gave Stefan a look.

"Yeah. I did something pretty crappy." Stefan looked at the rug. "I met this girl named Tessa this summer that Damon went to Europe with Klaus, Caroline and Elena. She was great. Tall, sexy and up for anything. She seemed great. The only problem was she kind of clung to me. Like really clung, like I could not go anywhere or do anything without her following me around—"

"Wait, are you talking about my cousin, Tessa?" Bonnie interrupted Stefan, glaring at him.

"Yeah," Stefan gave Bonnie a guilty look.

"Jerk," Bonnie muttered, continuing to glare at him.

"Anyway, Tessa started following me around. She would show up at my house and kept calling. Ten, twenty times a night. It just felt like way too much. So I told her that my name was really Silas and that Stefan, my twin, lived in Italy. She should go find him. But she might have a problem since he had a girlfriend. She didn't believe me, so I showed her a picture of Elena and told her that the girl's name was Amara and they lived in Italy together."

"So that's why Tessa moved to Italy," Bonnie shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"And she…" Stefan shook his head.

"She couldn't find this guy. 'The love of her life,' Bonnie said quietly. "That's what she wrote in the note that they found. She jumped off a cliff… But you have to know that Tessa had been battling depression for most of her life and had tried to hurt herself multiple times before that. But I don't think your story helped, Stefan." Bonnie sighed. "But I don't think it's your fault either. Tessa needed help and she didn't want it. She didn't want to live in the real world."

"What about the sisters?" Damon demanded.

Kol's eyes widened. "I think I know." He looked at his siblings as their mother came into the room and he looked up at her.

"I think I know, too, which is why your father and I were a part of this," Esther's eyes filled with tears.

"We have a sister?" Rebekah asked her mother.

Mikael nodded and then shook his head. "Yes and no. Before you, Elijah, Niklaus and Kol were born… We had a daughter, Freya. Your mother had a sister, Dahlia who grew jealous of our family. She had not married or had a child of her own. One day she offered to babysit and your mother took a nap. When she awoke Dahlia was gone and so was Freya. The police did very little to help us. They had so many other children to find. So many children. We joined groups, talked to others, tried therapy. Nothing helped. One day we got a call. After all of you were born and…"

"I was there. Sitting on the staircase. You didn't know it. Mother started crying," Kol said.

"Yes. The police found a car and chased it but Dahlia would not give up what was 'hers.' She drove into a quarry. By the time the police got someone down there, our Freya had drowned. She was only ten," Mikael broke down and Esther held him.

"That's horrible," Caroline said, beginning to cry.

Everyone sat for a time before Elena spoke up. "I have a twin sister. Katherine. She lives in The Mystic Falls Center for the Mentally Ill. When we were little, Kat and I were really close. But then she started drawing these really disgusting pictures of dead people. They creeped all of us out. They were all people who had died and Kat kept saying that they were speaking to her. That they wouldn't shut up. And then one day she took my hand and said that she knew how to make the voices go away. She said we could do it together."

For a moment Elena couldn't speak. "We went into the street and Kat said I had to lie down and wait. I didn't want to but Kat said I had to; otherwise the voices wouldn't stop. She said they'd just keep talking to her. Our mother came outside and started screaming at us to 'Get out of the road.' I saw a car coming and got scared and tried to move but Kat rolled on top of me, pinning me down, saying 'They'll stop now, Lena! They'll stop and we'll be together! Always! Like we promised as babies!'"

"The driver swerved and managed to avoid hitting us. And Kat was sent to a live in The Center. We were five and I haven't visited Kat once."

"I did," Elijah said. "I met her. And I did write a paper about her. And I do regret how I treated her."

"Me, too," Elena mumbled, beginning to cry.

"Okay. So, I think that established where all the crazy was coming from." Damon shook his head. "Whoa."

"There's more," Esther told them. "To deal with our loss, we underwent hypnosis. Trying to rid ourselves of our trauma."

"And this new round opened you up to the suppressed memories," Elijah stated.

"More than likely," Esther nodded.

"But not all of have been hypnotized in the past," Damon argued.

"Maybe we have," Elena argued. "There was a doctor in town the year that Kat got sick. St. John or something."

"Yeah. Damon, remember, Dad made us see a therapist about Mom and we started feeling better," Stefan pointed out.

"I lost a pet," Tyler added.

"I sometimes sleepwalk and eat jam with my hands," Kai told them. Everyone gave Kai odd looks.

"Okay. So how do we end this session of Who Wants to Live in a Nightmare?" Damon snapped.

"One word: Finis." Davina said and they all blinked.

"What's going on?" Damon asked. "Weren't we just at the party?"

"Yeah. How did we get here?" Klaus demanded, looking around him.

"Why do I feel like I haven't slept in a week but want to run a marathon?" Caroline eyed the group.

Elena shook her head and yawned. "I don't know. Hey, what time is it?"

"Like ten o'clock," Kol said, glancing at his phone. "Davina, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how your Halloween was going," Davina said with a smile.

"Boring, love. Let's go see if we can scare someone," Kol suggested.

"Or we could sit here with your friends and family and watch spooky movies." Davina gave Kol a smile.

Elena got to her feet and headed to the kitchen with Damon. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Damon said, taking a lock of her hair and playing with it.

"I've got somewhere that I need to go for a little while. Will you be okay without me?" Elena asked Damon, sliding her hands around his neck and giving him a sweet kiss.

"Yeah. Just be careful. Weirdos come out on Halloween," Damon warned her, kissing her again.

"I will be. And if I get in trouble, you can save me," Elena teased.

"You bet I will," Damon replied, kissing her passionately before letting her go.

Elena called good-bye to everyone in the living room. They were arguing about what to watch as she walked out into the sunshine. She smiled at the pumpkins on the porch and headed to her car which was parked in the drive-way even though she didn't remember driving here. Getting in, she drove across town.

Standing outside Mystic Falls Center for the Mentally Ill, Elena drew in a deep breath and walked inside. She'd never been here and felt weird, out-of-place. Walking over to the reception desk, she stood in front of it until a young woman set a phone down. She gave Elena a cheerful smile. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"I'm here to visit my sister, Katherine Gilbert." Elena waited while the woman began to click away at her keyboard and then frowned.

"I'm sorry. Katherine Gilbert was released today. Actually she was released last night in the care of one of our doctors," the woman said.

"What?" Elena felt her world twirl.

"Who are you again?"

"My name is Elena Gilbert. Katherine is my twin," Elena said as calmly as she could. "Are you supposed to notify the family before releasing a patient?"

"Doctor St. John said he did notify you," the woman told her.

Elena placed her hands to her temples, walking away quickly and into the sunshine. A little breeze made her hair blow around her. "Hello, Elena," Katherine's voice called from behind her and Elena turned to find Katherine smiling at her. "Incipre."

"No!" Elena shouted and the sky darkened while Katherine pulled her hoodie up.

"I missed you, sis. You'll never out run me. I'll find you. I promised you: Always!" Katherine called after Elena who had already taken off in a sprint.

 **The End or is it?**

 **Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing.**

 **Peace,**

 **Jessica**


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